Ityala Lamawele Reloaded

17 September 2011
BONGANI FUZILE

TWO Transkei families are claiming that a youth in his 20s, who was found wandering in the Engcobo villages last month, is their son.
Now the families are turning to technology for assistance, and will use DNA testing to identify the “mystery man”.
A family from Engcobo’s Manzamdaka village said the young man was their son, who had miraculously returned after he ‘died’ in a drowning accident 12 years ago.
However, a second family from Mthatha’s Baziya village said he was their “problematic” son who had gone missing last month.
The Engcobo family say his name is Nceba Apleni and was born in 1985 , while the Baziya family claim he is Andile Petela and was born in 1983. Both families say he had identifying features – such as birthmarks – which confirmed him as their son.
The confusion started last month when the young man, who is said to be mentally challenged, wandered into a traditional healer’s home in Msintsana village in Engcobo.
The healer, Dumile Kwaza, said he was hungry, dehydrated and couldn’t speak.
“He emerged from the bushes behind our house and he looked like a person who went missing a long time ago. I called villagers and they told me he’s from the Apleni family and had ‘died’ 12 years ago,” said Kwaza. “They (the Aplenis) positively identified him .”
Nowinala Apleni said her son had drowned in a shallow dam while playing with friends in 1999. She heard about a person who could be their son and went to investigate. “I was shocked. It was him, it was my son,” she said. “My husband, family elders and siblings all saw him – we checked every mark he had before he died and we positively identified him.”
Asked who they had buried in 2009 if that was the case, Apleni said the family was not sure.
A family elder, Zimisele Apleni, who saw the body being retrieved from the river in 1999 after the drowning, said: “I was there when he was retrieved from the water … His father came and identified him and we buried him.”
A villager, Lungile Mfeketho , also believed the Apleni’s son had risen from the dead. “There’s no doubt about this – that’s the boy. He has mysteriously risen from the dead,” said Mfeketho.