Diepsloot residents gather near the site where the body of a five-year-old was found lying dead.
JOHANNESBURG - Tempers flared among Diepsloot residents following the death of Anelisa Mkhondo.
Five-year-old Anelisa was first reported missing on Saturday only for her body to be found on Monday morning beneath a pile of rubble scattered along Ruby Street in Diepsloot, north of Joburg.
The child lived with her grandparents and was allegedly found with a plastic bag over her head.
The incident has angered residents who threatened to search for anyone that might be linked to the child’s death.
“Crime is seriously getting out of control in Diepsloot. Police presence is not enough in this area. Women and children are not safe but this has to stop,” said Eric Mbedzi as Diepsloot residents prepared to go on a door-to-door search of would be suspects.
The planned manhunt did not happen thanks to police officials on site who managed to persuade residents to rethink their intentions.
Police spokesperson Colonel Lungile Dlamini said a murder case had been opened and police were waiting for gathered evidence to establish Anelisa’s cause of death.
“Police are investigating the case. Nobody has been arrested yet,” said Dlamini.
Mkhondo’s grandfather, Thabo Mcubese, said the family was saddened by the incident but urged residents to give police a chance to handle the case.
“This is a painful experience for the whole family. We were not expecting to find Anelisa in a dumping site, dead with condoms on her private parts. We are deeply saddened as a family but I am pleading with residents not take the law into their own hands. Let the police do their job and arrest those responsible for my grandchild’s death,” said Mcubese.
Mkhondo&39;s parents are based in Matatiele in the Eastern Cape and have been informed about the incident.
