Go 18 February 2021

4 GOT A NEWS STORY? Call our news desk on (043) 702 2125 or (043) 702 2046. Find us on Facebook 18 February 2021 GO & EXPRESS
Girl’s body found in a garden
Lihlumo Mzini, 8, reported missing, was discovered in East London on Tuesday
SIVENATHI GOSA
The body of young Lihlumo
Mzini, who went missing
on Friday, has been found
in a garden. Residents of
Dorchester Heights informal
settlement in East London and
police launched a search party
soon after the eight-year-old
girl’s disappearance.
On Sunday, her mother was
arrested on a charge of child
neglect. She is due to appear in
court soon. On Tuesday, a
shocked family member told
DispatchLIVE that Lihlumo’s
body had been found in the
place they had searched.
This has left the family
unsettled and asking questions.
Lihlumo was found naked near
a community garden by a local
man on Tuesday afternoon.
Provincial SAPS
spokesperson Col Sibongile
Soci confirmed the Cambridge
police were summoned to a
scene at Dorchester Heights
informal settlement where the
body of an unknown child wa s
d i s c ove r e d .
“At this stage, we cannot
confirm whether the body is that
of an eight-year-old girl reported
missing a few days ago, as the
investigation is still continuing.
A murder docket was opened
for further investigation,” she
said at the time.
After the little girl’s
disappearance, a frantic search
by the SAPS and the community
ensued. Some East London
residents flooded social media
platforms pleading for help to
find Lihlumo.
Residents called her aunt,
Nolukholo Smanga, about the
discovery of the body.
Smanga said: “We did
search where the body was
❝We did search where
the body was found.
It left me with so
many questions,
because the person
who did this is surely
from our community
found. It left me with so many
questions, because the person
who did this is surely from our
c o m m u n i t y.”
The search had continued
for two days with dogs in the
area where the body was later
found, therefore they were
suspicious about how the body
suddenly appeared there.
On Friday morning, the girl’s
mother asked Smanga about the
whereabouts of her child after
realising she did not spend the
night at home.
Smanga said: “I do not know
how I am going to break the
news to [the mother], as she is
not home.
“Losing a child is not
something I wish upon anyone.
Parents aren’t supposed to bury
their children, especially at this
young age.”
A source, who wished to
remain anonymous, said the
informal settlement residents
were traumatised.
BLOWN AWAY
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“The person who found the
body is still being questioned by
the police. Everyone is making
their own assumptions because
we are still wondering who is
this cold-hearted person that
would do such an inhuman
act?”
With her voice breaking,
Smanga said Lihlumo was a
loving and playful child who
enjoyed being around people.
“Most of the time she would
spend time at my house when
her mother was not around, and
she loved playing with her
cousins. She was an expressive
ch i l d .”
Smanga said there were two
men who were drinking with
the girl’s mother on Thursday
night when Lihlumo was out at
a friend’s house.
“One of these men has gone
missing after we declared the
child missing. The other is a
bush dweller and it has been
difficult tracking his
wh e r e a b o u t s .
“We want justice to be
served, and Lihlumo’s killers to
be found. That is the least we
can do for her. She did not
deserve to be treated like that.”
Missing Children SA says
two other children went missing
in Eastern Cape recently.
Siyamthanda Jim, 8, from
Komani, went missing in
January; and Esethu Xethu, 14,
from Willowvale, went missing
in December.- DispatchLIVE
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Another case of misprinted DoB in Sotho Village
SIPHOSIHLE DYONASE
Another incident has emerged involving an
allegedly incorrect date of birth being printed on
an ID book. This allegation comes after Sotho
Village resident Nosizwe Makhoba, told the the
Go! & Express she’s been dealing with the
incorrect date since she first got her ID book in
February 1990.
Nosizwe said she had been pushing to get the
details on her ID revised but to no success.
To put food on the table, Makhoba sells
brooms around Balfour area in Vincent.
“The only thing that makes things worse for
her in getting the amendments is that she is
i l l i t e ra t e ,” said relative Sandile Tshazibana.
“We visited EL home affairs in November
2017 to request that her date of birth be changed
from 1971 to 1958. This application didn’t work
since there was no proof available to support this.
Her only proof was a clinic card issued in the
early 1980s. [Makhoba] had no RSA reference
book or Ciskei/Transkei traveling documents for
the department to work with,” he said.
“In December 2017 we sent an email to the
then-director general of home affairs Mkuseli
Apleni requesting for direction on the matter,
since the department should be dealing with
thousands of these. I forwarded the email to
directors, who also forwarded to a relevent
person who heads the amendments office. She
asked for a copy of the only proof, the clinic card,
the ID of the her mother who was born in 1925.
“All were sent to her in Pretoria. We waited
through the whole of 2018, emailing and calling
her often for updates,” Tshazibana said.
He said that eventually in July 2019, the head
of amendments in Pretoria asked for the
Mooiplaas ward counsellor to investigate the
matter and talk to Makhoba’s peers and submit a
report in the findings.
“The report was sent to her in Pretoria,” he
said. “The lady in Pretoria then directed us to an
East London home affairs manger to ask him to
carry out an investigation. This was done, the
report was sent to Pretoria in September 2019. It’s
been 18 months, and we have had no feedback.”
The Go! & Express made several attempts to
get in touch with home affairs but no response
was received by the time of going to print.