Wallacedene community members found the body of a missing 11-month-old baby floating in sewage water close to his home on Wednesday.
Little Akhimbali Mafentile was last seen on Sunday after his mother Xola, 20, apparently left him alone and spent the night at her berk’s house.
When she returned home the next morning Xola told police the baby was missing.
Xola's sister, who does want to be named, says: "She went to her boyfriend's place, the biological father of the baby. She left him alone in her shack and she said her friends were supposed to take him, that makes no sense, we still need to ask her the truth and she is the only one who knows it."
A community member Leletu Somtsewu, 40, says after the discovery of the boy’s corpse his mom had to be taken away by cops.
"People are very upset with her and they accused her of killing her own child.
"Everyone is finding this suspicious because she said she left her baby alone and told her friends to fetch him.
"But the friends are saying something different so no one knows what really happened to the child."
Somtsewu tells the Daily Voice they started their search on their own as residents.
And around 12:30pm four women decided to check the dried out dam filled with human waste.
"We braved the smell and walked on the rubbish behind the hokkies where Xola lives.
"We saw something floating and we took a closer look at first glance it seemed like a doll.
"But we could identify the onesie he was last seen in."
The women then called other community members and the police who took the mom to the scene.
Protesters who pelted cars with stones paused and went to the scene and watched as cops combed the scene for clues.
Police spokesman Colonel Andrè Traut says: "Due to the sensitive nature of our investigation, we will refrain from releasing more information at this stage.
"Kindly be advised that the body of a baby was found at a dam in Wallacedene this afternoon.
"At this stage our detectives are in the process to determine the circumstances and an identification is yet to be made."
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za