Hazyview – The relief among family and other locals was palpable in the Mshadza Trust area, near Hazyview, Mpumalanga, after a missing three-year-old, Nkosingiphile Ntiwane, was found alive in a ditch.
Little Nkosingiphile had been missing for five days when he was found on Friday, 25 July 2025.
The missing boy was spotted by villagers at the bottom of a deep ditch.
A police officer went into the ditch and bravely carried the fragile toddler to safety while onlookers sighed with relief.
Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Donald Mdhluli said the boy was rushed to a hospital.
“The young boy is currently receiving medical assistance, though he appeared weak and possibly dehydrated,” Brigadier Mdhluli said.
“Currently, it is not yet clear how he got stuck in the ditch.”
Earlier reports said the three-year-old boy was at home with two other children when he mysteriously went missing.
Police were told the children had been locked in the house, which has burglar bars on all the windows.
At some point, during the search, fingers of accusation pointed at the child’s mother, Nontobeko Mlangeni, whom they suspected was behind her son’s disappearance.
Mlangeni was taken in by the police for questioning, but was later released.
Brigadier Mdhluli said the probe into the matter was ongoing.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the child was held somewhere for several days before being in the ditch a few metres away from his home.
