An 18-year-old teenager has been arrested after he confessed to the murder of a 6-year-old boy who went missing last month. Junior Mabandla (6) from Pienaar in Mbombela, Mpumalanga, disappeared exactly a month ago after he left his home to go buy sweets with his friends. 

Junior's body was discovered buried on top of another person's grave at a graveyard on a Wednesday evening after the suspect pointed it out to the community and the police. According to Junior's uncle, Mbongeni Sifundza, the past few weeks have been a stressful time for the family when they were searching for Junior. "What is heartbreaking is the fact that the perpetrator was always here with us, helping us search for my nephew, knowing we would never find him alive. Some community members kept telling us that he was the last person to have been seen with Junior, but we did not suspect him because he was always here helping, Sifundza said. 

Sifundza said that they started suspecting the teenager when he kept changing his statements. "The community played a huge role in helping us find Junior's body. He confessed to killing Junior after the community assaulted him. He even gave the community the names of the people he claims helped him,' Sifundza said. He added that the family is now relieved to know what happened to his nephew and that they can now bury him and find closure. 

Mpumalanga SAPS spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, confirmed that the remains believed to be those of Junior were discovered. Mdhluli said that the remains of the boy were in a shopping bag with his clothes. "He was buried in someone else's grave. An 18-year-old man has since been apprehended in connection with the discovery. He is currently receiving medical treatment under police guard after being reportedly assaulted by some members of the community," he said. Mdhluli further said that Junior's family was able to identify him through clothes that were recovered together with the remains.