Police in South Africa have arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the murder of 14-year-old Simphiwe Sibeko.
The man was arrested on Tuesday after an intelligence-driven operation, according to police spokesperson Capt Kay Makhubele.
He said a search for a second person suspected of being involved in the crime was under way.
Sibeko was reported missing last Thursday after she failed to return home from a local spaza shop.
The teen’s partially decomposed body was later found buried in a shallow grave near a river stream, several kilometres away from her home. She had been raped.
Sibeko’s aunt, Bongekile Phakathi, told media that the 22-year-old suspect was not known to the family, and expressed relief at the arrest.
“We can’t say we’re happy, but the news about the arrest comes as a relief to the family. We hope justice will be served,” she told TimesLIVE.
Phakathi confirmed Sibeko would be laid to rest on Thursday.
