On Father’s Day, Siyanda Magagu, a 35-year-old man, kidnapped his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son, Anganam Magxwalisa, and hung him to die on a tree in Xholora township, Stutterheim, Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Eastern Cape NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said Magagu appeared on charges of kidnapping and murder at the Stutterheim Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, June 18, 2024, and was remanded in custody.

It is alleged that Magagu, who was in a relationship with Anganam’s mother, took the child from his 13-year-old cousin, saying he was going to buy him sweets at a local spaza shop.

This allegedly happened after he had argued with the child’s mother. According to the family’s spokesperson, Babalwa Goroleki, Magagu had been in the child’s life since he was two months old.

The family is deeply shocked and cannot understand what could have possessed him to commit such an act.

Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Siphokazi Mawisa said the mother contacted the police to report that Anganam was missing, and his body was found hanging from a tree a few hours later.