Three bodies found believed to be siblings kidnapped by their father

The decomposed bodies of three children believed to be those of siblings who were kidnapped by their father in December were discovered in an open field in Rosslyn on Saturday.

Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said a member of the community went to the bush to conduct rituals when he noticed the bodies between Rosslyn and Ext 6, near Kitshoff Road.

“The police were notified and dispatched various units that specialise in crime scene management,” he said.

Masondo said the bodies were likely to be those of the three children aged seven to 12 who were allegedly kidnapped by their father on December 31 after he had had an altercation with their mother.

Masondo said a postmortem and DNA tests will be conducted to determine the causes of death and to establish if they are indeed the children who were kidnapped by the boyfriend of the mother.

He said a case with three counts of murder has been opened at Akasia police station and the investigation is continuing.

When TimesLIVE spoke to the mother last week, she confirmed that her three children disappeared when they were taken by their father on December 31.

“We didn't have an agreement for him to take them, we just had an argument and he took them, and since then I have not laid my eyes on them,” Mbali Mlotshwa said.

She said they once lived together, but she had moved out with her children.

Mlotshwa said she would she would drop the children off at his home when she went to work and fetch them when she knocked off.

“I was at work, knocked off and went back to where I was staying. I was supposed to go fetch them.” She confirmed that the man had been found dead in a field in Rosslyn.

“We found him but he is dead, we found him between Rosslyn and Ext 6. But we haven't found the children,” she said.

She said her eldest child, Sphamandla, 11, was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans.

“He doesn't talk much, he gets scared when he is with people he doesn't know. He was going to be doing grade 6 this year,” she said.

The second born, Nkosana, 8, was last seen wearing a blue T-shirt, jeans and sneakers while the last-born sibling, Mpho, a girl aged seven, was wearing colourful leggings with a pink and brown shirt.

“My children, when they are with people they don't know, become quiet. I won't know how to explain this (feeling), I can't explain the feeling that I am feeling,” she said.

TimesLIVE