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Missing journalist's stepson believes human remains found are his parents

News2414-05-2025
After months of searching for his missing parents, he has been overwhelmed with anxiety and fear following the discovery of human remains, which authorities believe may belong to them.
Treasure Mdluli (30) who is the son of Zodwa who went missing with journalist Sibusiso Ndlovu believes that the human remains discovered by the police belong to his mother and her partner.
He told Drum Magazine that DNA samples were drawn from him on Friday morning and he is anxiously waiting for the results.
'There is a high chance that these are my parents, who have been found. The police did however, promise me that they would speed up the process because there is a backlog for obtaining DNA results,' said Treasure.
He explained that this has been a hard time for their family and no one is taking the news well.
'I honestly don't know how I've managed to go about my days without losing my mind, especially when we were still clueless and continuously searching with no breakthroughs. We are a bit relieved that we are now getting answers but it doesn't make our burden any lighter and comes with a lot of pain,' said a distraught Treasure.
Treasure recalled the last moments he spent with his parents and described them as jolly and full of love.
'I last saw them on the Sunday before they went missing on Tuesday. I was set to drive back from their place to Joburg but they asked me to spend one more night with them, so I slept over. We chatted until late and then went to bed. The next morning I drove my mother to work and then I left town. I last spoke to her on the morning of the Tuesday they went missing,'he said.
The spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority in Mpumalanga, Monica Nyuswa said that court proceedings were postponed due to one of the suspects falling ill on Friday Morning.
Nyuswa said the suspect had to be rushed to a medical center which brought the court case to a standstill.
Adding that although the expectation was that five suspects would be on the dock, only the two ( Samuel Mogongwe and his co-accused, Lucky Sikhosana) that are facing kidnapping charges appeared.
'The pair that appeared today has been linked by cellphone data to the last location of the missing couple.'
'Just to clarify the three other suspects that were charged with possession of stolen property will appear later this month, bearing in mind that one of them is a minor and is likely to appear separately.'
Nyuswa said the matter was postponed to the 19th of May 2025, and investigations are continuing.
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Writing: 'Six years ago today this man raped and murdered my aunt Christine Robinson. Andrew Ndlovu is still a free man enjoying his life after taking hers.' Ian Cameron, of Action Society, shared the post, causing it to go viral, with more than 70,000 people sharing it. The same day a woman named Melissa got in touch; Imbayarwo had been working for her family for the past five years and living in her yard for the last year. Justice – at last That evening he was arrested. 'He'd worked for them for years and was trusted,' says Sergison. It was an incredibly swift result, after so much time. However in South Africa, conviction rates for femicide are shockingly low due to the lack of thorough evidence and prosecution. Christine Robinson's killer wasn't arrested until 2020 – six years after the murder Statistics from the Medical Research Council reveals that less than one in five sexual offence cases end up in court and only 8.6 per cent of all sexual offence cases are finalised with a guilty verdict. Here, luck was finally on the family's side. Six months before Imbayarwo's arrest, the prosecutor had looked through the case and asked for holes to be filled. As a result, police got a statement from Imbayarwo's girlfriend at the time of the murder, recounting his confession to her. While the DNA evidence against Imbayarwo was strong, he pleaded not guilty, claiming the sex was consensual. At the court case in April 2022, Sergison employed a watching brief to report on the trial. Not only was she too ill to travel to South Africa but she was in intensive care in hospital with suspected tuberculosis. Against the odds, Sergison managed to write a Victim Impact statement to be read in court. 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'There was a life left for her to lead and someone took that away from her for £1,400. I'm sure she would have given that to him. She could be dippy but she knew the value of her own life.' She worries about what will happen in the future. 'At least for the next 22 years he will be in prison. But if he gets parole and is released, he'll only be my age today.' How has her experience changed her? 'I've become more vocal. I was very much a wallflower, not one for public speaking. But once you've learnt about what's happening to women and misogyny continues and femicide is accepted you feel obliged to do something.' 'My friends that have known me for a long time are shocked to know I had that fire in my belly.' The Facebook Honeytrap: Catching a Killer streams on Amazon Prime from July 27 Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.

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