Police probe premeditated murder case after toddler (2) was killed and his mother arrested
Kutlwano Shalaba’s lifeless body was discovered last Thursday in Bekkersdal, west of Gauteng, after he was reported kidnapped in November last year.
Keneilwe Shalaba and her co-accused Sebokoana Khoanyana at the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court. Picture: Jabulile Mbatha/EWN.
JOHANNESBURG - Police are shifting gear in what was initially a kidnapping case and are now investigating a case of premeditated murder after a two-year-old boy was killed and his mother arrested in Vanderbijlpark.
Kutlwano Shalaba’s lifeless body was discovered last Thursday in Bekkersdal, west of Gauteng, after he was reported kidnapped in November last year.
A sangoma practising in the area led police to the boy’s body after admitting he was involved in his disappearance.
The child’s mother, Keneilwe Shalaba, was arrested in November last year on charges including human trafficking.
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Police found that R75,000 was deposited into the child’s mother’s account the day her son went missing.
It later emerged that she had contacted a local sangoma, Sebokoane Khoanyana, several times, and he was taken in for questioning.
Police are now probing the matter to get to the bottom of what happened to the child.
They’ve revealed that DNA tests are currently underway on the child’s body, and a postmortem report will soon be released.
On Monday, the pair appeared at the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court on charges of human trafficking and premeditated murder.
The National Prosecuting Authority NPA's spokesperson, Lummka Mahanjana, said, "We just recovered the body of the baby, and a postmortem is still going to be conducted, and possibly investigate the body further, and what was done to the body."
The matter was postponed to 5 June 2025 to allow the sangoma to source legal representation.