KEY POINTS
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Police discovered the remains of two-year-old Kutlwano Shalaba after a traditional healer led investigators to a shallow grave near Randfontein.
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The toddler’s mother, Keneilwe Shalaba, and the sangoma now face charges of murder and human trafficking.
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Authorities believe the child was sold for R75,000, and community members are calling for harsher penalties to deter such crimes.
The tragic disappearance of two-year-old Kutlwano Shalaba has ended in heartbreak, as police recovered his body buried in a shallow grave at an abandoned mine near Randfontein, west of Johannesburg.
Kutlwano was last seen in November 2024, with his mother, 32-year-old Keneilwe Shalaba, initially claiming he had been kidnapped by unknown men in a silver-grey car.
However, the police investigation quickly took a darker turn as inconsistencies in her account began to emerge. She was arrested shortly after, charged with human trafficking, conspiracy to commit an offence, and making a false statement.
Police confirmed that a 50-year-old traditional healer (sangoma) who operated from the Vereeniging taxi rank had been arrested earlier this week. He confessed and led detectives to the site of the child’s burial. Although the identity is yet to be officially confirmed through DNA analysis, authorities strongly suspect the remains belong to Kutlwano.
A web of lies unraveled by police testimony
During a previous bail application, police sergeant George Motloung testified that Kutlwano never accompanied his mother to Durban, as she had claimed. He revealed that Shalaba attempted to persuade fellow travelers to lie to investigators, asserting that Kutlwano had been with her. Witness statements and travel records contradicted her version of events.
Furthermore, evidence revealed that on the same day Kutlwano disappeared — November 10 — Shalaba received a suspicious deposit of R75,000, which the state alleges was payment for selling her son. She was unable to explain the source of the money.
Captain Tintswalo Sibeko confirmed that the remains were discovered in Waterpan Road, near the R28 highway in Bekkersdal. “The remains are suspected to be of Kutlwano but a DNA analysis will be performed to determine the identity of the corpse,” she stated.
Sowetanlive reports that Shalaba and the sangoma are scheduled to appear before the Vanderbijlpark Magistrate’s Court on Monday, June 2, facing charges of murder and human trafficking.
Kutlwano’s case had sparked national outrage. For months, communities in the Vaal and child safety advocates had demanded answers about the toddler’s whereabouts. The family had publicly pleaded for his return, while neighbors and friends questioned the mother’s changing story.
“She cried when she reported him missing, but now we know it was all an act,” said one neighbor from Boipatong, reflecting on the community’s shock. Others described her as a woman who had never shown signs of being capable of such cruelty, making the revelations all the more devastating.
The recovery of Kutlwano’s remains brings a painful conclusion to a case that had gripped the nation, serving as a grim reminder of the risks posed by child trafficking networks operating in both rural and urban communities.
