The man’s mother had warned him of the dangerous or fatal situation he might find himself in if he continued to use drugs.
THE MOTHER of a 24-year-old man whose burnt body was discovered inside a drum two weeks ago, indicated that she warned her son that he could find himself in a fatal or dangerous situation if he continued to use drugs.
Mpho Jacobs, 60, yesterday described the last few days she spent with her son, Shaun, prior to his body being found in a veld next to the Galeshewe Police Station.
Jacobs said her son was a drug addict and she had warned him that his ways would land him in trouble if he does not change.
“I had many problems with Shaun because of his drug addiction. He was admitted to hospital on December 27 2019 as he seemed to be going crazy. He was discharged on January 14 2020 and appeared to be doing alright.
“We used to sit together and I would tell him how dangerous his addiction was, not only to himself but to all of us as a family. He said that he wanted to quit and would change his ways. At the time it seemed as if he really wanted the help,” she said.
However, her son again turned to drugs. “He would shake excessively and as the days passed he went back to his old friends and started using drugs again.”
Jacobs said although Shaun used to leave home and return again after a few days, the last time he did he never came back.
“I at first thought that he went to visit his grandmother in Club 2000. Then I started to get worried but could not call him to find out where he was because he had no phone. I also asked some of his friends whether they had seen him.
“I reported him missing two weeks before his body was discovered,” said Jacobs. She provided police with a picture of Shaun as well as a description of his tattoos.
According to Jacobs the police contacted her daughter after they discovered the body. “The police also collected a friend of Shaun’s to identify the body. My daughter and the friend at first could not identify Shaun as the body had already decomposed.
“The police then showed them pictures of the body on a computer and the friend positively identified him from one of his tattoos. My daughter said they could not see his face as it was burnt beyond recognition.”
Jacobs said she has been unable to sleep following the death of her son.
“I cannot sleep at night and still wait for Shaun to show up. I get so scared when I hear a sound outside,” she wept.
She indicated that although she knew her son was a troublesome child, he did not deserve to die in this manner.
“We do not know who killed my son. There have been no arrests and we want justice to take its course,” she said
Two Galeshewe residents discovered the badly burnt body inside a drum during the early hours of January 12 2020.
The drum was apparently dumped at the scene during the early hours of the morning, although it is suspected that the victim was killed and then set alight somewhere else.
