The missing persons task team in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and the SAPS Victim Identification Centre will conduct the exhumation of two graves believed to contain the remains of Corlett “Lolo” Sono (21) and Siboniso Anthony Shabalala (19) on 12 March 2013.
The two young men, who served as couriers for Umkhonto Wesizwe (MK) members, disappeared on 13 and 14 November 1988, respectively. They were among many people reported missing to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC).
The missing persons task team has established that two bodies with multiple stab wounds were found in a field in Diepkloof Extension, Soweto, on the morning of 15 November 1988. The two were taken to the state mortuary and later buried as unidentified persons with a large group of paupers in Avalon cemetery.
Photographs of the two bodies have been positively identified by the families, and the families will attend the exhumation. DNA tests will be conducted at the SAPS Forensic Laboratory after exhumation, in order to confirm their identities.
Further investigations into the deaths of the two deceased are being conducted by SAPS.
The exhumation is open to members of the media, and the details of the event are as follows:
Date: Tuesday, 12 March 2013
Time: 09h00 – 13h00
Venue: Avalon Cemetery, Soweto
Media enquiries:
Ms Bulelwa Makeke, Executive Manager: Communications
E-mail: bmakeke@npa.gov.za
Cell: 084 702 5617
For further enquiries about further investigations:
Brigadier Tumi Shai, SAPS
Cell: 082 826 6181
