A Cape Town teenager who went missing in Gugulethu last month, has been found dead in Kuils River, more than 25 kilometres away from home.
Ongeziwe Kamlana, 17, a Grade 12 learner at the Fezeka High School in Gugulethu went missing on Saturday, February 17.
The teenager was last seen at a car wash in the area with a boy.
Her distraught mother, Nondumiso Fanti, 44, said she last saw her daughter when she returned home from Saturday classes at school.
“I do not know what she was wearing because, by the time she got home, she was wearing her school uniform. She changed out of her uniform, but I didn’t see her when she left the house. I was asleep.
“As far as I know Ongeziwe was last seen at about 8.15pm on Saturday at a car wash at Barcelona informal settlement next to Lwazi Primary School. She was on her way home and was accompanied by a boy,” Fanti told IOL at the time.
Weeks later, the mother’s biggest fear have become a reality when the charred body of an unidentified person was found in Kuils River.
Ongeziwe’s mother was too distraught to speak on Wednesday.
Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk confirmed a body burnt beyond recognition was found on Sunday, February 18, a day after the teenager went missing.
An inquest docket was opened at the time.
The link was not made at the time due to the proximity of where Ongeziwe went missing and where the body was located.
Van Wyk said at the inquest docket was later changed to murder.
“The body of a deceased person was burned beyond recognition inside a bungalow on a premises in Palamino Street in Jagtershof, Kuils River.
“DNA testing was done and it confirmed that the body that was found is that of the missing 17-year-old Gugulethu girl,” van Wyk said.
Police arrested a suspect linked to the murder on March 3.
The suspect has since appeared in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court on a charge of murder.
“The suspect was released on R1,000 bail and his next court appearance will be April 17, 2024. The suspect is out on bail with the condition that he does not leave the area,” van Wyk said.
The circumstances of the teenagers death is not known at this stage.
On Tuesday, National Police Minister Bheki Cele and provincial police management visited the family of the teenage girl.
The Grade 12 learner will be buried this weekend.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL