Siboniso and his friend Lolo Corlett Sono were allegedly killed by members of the Mandela Football Club in Soweto, Siboniso was 19 and Sono was 21 when they were last seen by Sono’s father being driven away in a kombi.
Families laid the young activists and veterans Mzwakhe Moses Phato (MK Slow Mbewu) and Archie Lethoko (MK Lloyd Zwane) to rest on Septmber 6 at Westpark Cemetery, Johannesburg, after receiving the exhumed remains from the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.
Their bodies were found with multiple stab wounds in an open veld in Diepkloof before being buried as unidentified paupers at Avalon cemetery, without their families being notified.
The Missing Persons Task Team (MPTT) exhumed the bodies in 2013, and through DNA tests and forensic examination, the deceased were identified.
“Words cannot describe the emotions and feelings I’ve experienced over the past 27 years.
“Listening to other parents tell stories of their children who disappeared and came back gave me comfort of some sort that my son would come back home.
“The thought of him being murdered didn’t cross my mind.” said Shabalala.
While Shabalala was dealing with her son’s disappearance, she experienced further agony when her husband was killed in an attempted hijacking while attending a colleague’s funeral in Dobsonville.
“It hurt. The pain was unbearable but I prayed to God to help me heal and give me the strength to deal with it all.
“I asked God to be with me and my children.” she said.
Siboniso was the eldest son among Shabalala’s five children, Philane, Sebenzile, Melusi and Zakheni.
She brings out a photo album with pictures of her son with his family and friends.
“He loved soccer with his life. It didn’t surprise me that he had joined a soccer club because he was good at it. His friends nicknamed him Makhanda.” she recalls with a smile.
Shabalala said she knew nothing of politics and had very little knowledge about her son’s involvement with Umkhonto weSizwe.
The Shabalala family is grateful for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) because, according to the family, shed light on events that led to Siboniso’s disappearance.
“I know the truth and I forgive those involved in the ordeal. The last thing I need is to be attending court proceedings. I do not have the strength to drag this any longer.” said Tshabalala.
She encouraged parents who still haven’t found their children to be patient and trust God.
“They will find their children. I waited 27 years, God will see them through.”
