“Our wish is just to get his body back – even if it’s just his bones, so that we can bury him. We don’t know what to do now and we are being kept in the dark.”
These were the words of distraught mother Ntombi Zibaya of Highbury village in Mthatha, whose lastborn son has been missing since the weekend.
He is believed to have drowned in Second Beach in Port St Johns on Sunday morning.
Speaking with the Daily Dispatch yest Zibaya said she was looking for closure as she did not know what had happened to her son, Siphila Nzimande, 27.
He was a contract worker in the assets section of the King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality’s finance department.
An emotional Zibaya lashed out at the police for not keeping them abreast with the search for her son. She said they gave her “unsatisfactory” answers when she went to the beach on Monday, and she never heard anything from them again.
“We didn’t get enough explanation on what happened,” said Zibaya. “I was asking questions but I did not receive any satisfactory answers.
“They couldn’t even where he drowned.”
Instead, she claimed, a police officer had told them to consider the possibility that his body might not be recovered.
He added that “these things happen at Second Beach”.
Zibaya said their only wish was to get his remains back even if some of his flesh was missing.
“We don’t know what to do now.”
She described Nzimande as a humble son who liked to cook and socialise, and who had a permanent smile etched on his face.
“If there was no prepared food in the house he would not hesitate to cook.
“When we had visitors he would stand up and make tea for them without being told,” she said. The Daily Dispatch reported earlier this week that two people had drowned at the beach but only one body, that of a 16-year-old boy from Flagstaff, had been recovered.
“The body was missing most of its flesh and its arms, with authorities saying it had most likely been eaten by a shark.
Port St Johns police spokeswoman Captain Nozuko Handile yesterday confirmed that Nzimande’s body had not yet been recovered and said the search continues.
Desperate mom’s plea for answers
These were the words of distraught mother Ntombi Zibaya of Highbury village in Mthatha, whose lastborn son has been missing since the weekend.
He is believed to have drowned in Second Beach in Port St Johns on Sunday morning.
Speaking with the Daily Dispatch yest Zibaya said she was looking for closure as she did not know what had happened to her son, Siphila Nzimande, 27.
He was a contract worker in the assets section of the King Sabata Dalindyebo local municipality’s finance department.
An emotional Zibaya lashed out at the police for not keeping them abreast with the search for her son. She said they gave her “unsatisfactory” answers when she went to the beach on Monday, and she never heard anything from them again.
“We didn’t get enough explanation on what happened,” said Zibaya. “I was asking questions but I did not receive any satisfactory answers.
“They couldn’t even where he drowned.”
Instead, she claimed, a police officer had told them to consider the possibility that his body might not be recovered.
He added that “these things happen at Second Beach”.
Zibaya said their only wish was to get his remains back even if some of his flesh was missing.
“We don’t know what to do now.”
She described Nzimande as a humble son who liked to cook and socialise, and who had a permanent smile etched on his face.
“If there was no prepared food in the house he would not hesitate to cook.
“When we had visitors he would stand up and make tea for them without being told,” she said. The Daily Dispatch reported earlier this week that two people had drowned at the beach but only one body, that of a 16-year-old boy from Flagstaff, had been recovered.
“The body was missing most of its flesh and its arms, with authorities saying it had most likely been eaten by a shark.
Port St Johns police spokeswoman Captain Nozuko Handile yesterday confirmed that Nzimande’s body had not yet been recovered and said the search continues.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos