Body of missing girl (5) found in shack

The body of a five-year-old girl who went missing on Christmas day was found in a shack in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, it was reported.

The Daily Voice reported today that Lilitha Mgwebi disappeared from her home while playing with friends in Greenpoint.

Her half-naked body was found under a blanket on a bed in the shack in Khayelitsha yesterday when the shack owner returned from holiday.

The shack owner had to use a spade to break the lock on her door as the person she had asked to house-sit was not there.

The girl’s mother Abongile (28) told the newspaper they had all but given up hope of finding the child.

“I told them I did not want to go in there (the shack), I did not want to see what had been done to her. I don’t want my last memories of her to be in that state,” she said.

Western Cape police spokesperson Captain Frederick van Wyk said the body was believed to be that of Mgwebi’s and they were searching for the house-sitter.

- Sapa