- The body of an 11-year-old girl was found in Giyani, Limpopo, days after she was kidnapped.
- Her 75-year-old grandmother was attacked, strangled and left for dead, but survived.
- A 37-year-old woman has since been arrested in Kempton Park, Gauteng.
The decomposing body of an 11-year-old girl was found on Manganya Farm, outside Giyani in Limpopo, on Friday, less than a week after she was kidnapped.
According to police spokesperson Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, the child and her 75-year-old grandmother were asleep on Sunday, 5 March, when there was a knock at the door.
It was the woman's daughter-in-law, 37, and an unknown man. The daughter-in-law wanted to drop off her two sons for ancestral rituals. But they left "soon after their request was denied", Mojapelo said in a statement.
"Three hours later, at about 03:00, the elderly woman was attacked, strangled and left for dead by unknown men who, in the process, kidnapped the little girl," he said. But the elderly woman survived.
During the investigation into the attempted murder and kidnapping, information on the whereabouts of the daughter-in-law was received, and the police traced her to Kempton Park, Gauteng, where she was arrested on Friday, he said.
Police conducted a search operation for the kidnapped girl.
Later that day, he added that the child's tiny decomposing body was found hanging from a tree, among bushes on the farm.
Limpopo police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembi Hadebe described the incident as "horrendous".
Hadebe said:
Anyone who has further information for the police can contact Captain Nhlazine Ngomani on 082 319 9889, Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or the nearest police station.