Leratong Family Demands Answers After Son, Buried as Pauper, Found 10 Years Later

• Sello Arthur Mohlabeng was 23 years old when he disappeared without a trace from his home in Leratong Village in Johannesburg in 2015
• Speaking to Briefly News, the family relayed the story of how, a decade later, they finally received news of Sello’s whereabouts, and more heartache began
• There are more questions than answers as the family jumps through hoops to recover their son’s remains

Sello Arthur Mohlabeng was only 23 years old when he suddenly disappeared from his home in Leratong Village in Johannesburg. According to his mother, Noah Mohlabeng, she last saw her son when she left the house to go to church on 11 May 2015, on Mother’s Day. Noah said her son did not have any plans to leave the house as he was waiting for his siblings to return home.

Speaking to Briefly News local correspondent Nokulunga Mthembu, Sello's mother said:

“When I got home from church, everyone but Sello was home. It started bothering me when we went to bed and he still hadn’t returned home as this was very unusual for him."

Noah reported her son missing, and the long search began

The following day, Sello had not returned home. His distraught mother went to Kagiso Police Station to report him missing. Days went by without any information about Sello’s whereabouts. The family continued to hope and search for him, while raising awareness in newspapers and on social media, with no luck.

“There’s nothing we didn’t try to find Sello.

"His pictures were up on social media and in newspapers as we were really worried about what had happened to him because he was a responsible person who always reported his ways.”

Noah said Mother’s Day is no longer a day of celebration for her and her family, as it is a reminder of how she suddenly lost a son.

Years went by with no one coming up with an explanation of Sello’s possible whereabouts. Ten years later, on the exact date Sello went missing, his mother received a call from a detective stationed at Jeppe Police Station in Central Johannesburg. The detective told Noah news she never thought she would hear. Sello has been found.

A Mother’s Day miracle: The family gets a breakthrough

According to the detective, Sello was found dead under a bridge in Turffontein with his identity document in his pocket. He was buried the same year in September, presumed to be a homeless man.

“I don’t know what Mother’s Day has against me.

"When that policeman broke the news to me I couldn’t believe my ears. After years of searching for my son, I finally found him,“ Sello's heartbroken but relieved mother said.

It was a bittersweet moment as the family was finally relieved to receive word of his whereabout. But what followed was even harder as the family was left with more questions than answers about their son’s death.

The police reported that Sello died of poisoning, but what stood out to the family was how he was buried as a pauper, yet he had been reported missing and had his ID on him.

The family was ordered to pay a R1000 fee for Sello’s death certificate and another R32 000 for his exhumation.

His mother works part-time and is struggling to pay his exhumation fee.

Little girl still missing nearly 3 years after disappearing

In related news, Briefly News reported in April 2025 that almost three years ago, Fiona Matodzi, who was nine at the time, went missing in Itsani village, outside of Thohoyandou.

The little girl's mother, Fiona Matodzi, has since 8 August 2022 lived with the daily pain of not knowing what happened to her would-be now-11-year-old daughter. The family and community have demanded that the police give them answers.

Proofreading by Rianette Cluley, copy editor at Briefly.co.za.

Source: Briefly News