The young man accused of the murder of 10-year-old of Lihle Zenzile from Mbekweni, a distant cousin of hers, made his second appearance in the Paarl Regional Court this past week.
Action Society’s media liaison officer, Kaylynn Palm, attended the hearing, at which 18-year-old Ayabulela Zenzile appeared wearing a grey zip-up hoodie.
“The suspect first appeared in court on 16 January, the day of Lihle’s funeral, and is back in court today (Monday),” she tweeted.
Paarl Post had previously spoken to relatives of little Lihle at the Lazola Street home where her body was found in a white trunk in her parents’ bedroom on the Friday evening (6 January) before.
The accused, who lived at the same house, would later hand himself over to police and confess to her murder.
This was confirmed by police spokesperson WO Nceba Vanqa.
“The suspect, Ayabulela Zenzile, appeared in Paarl Magistrates’ Court on Monday on a charge of murder,” he said.
Although a missing person’s case was not formally opened Vanqa said the community was on the lookout for Lihle.
As such, police went to inspect the family’s residence.
“Her body was found only after the suspect had come along and confessed to the killing. The body was found in a trunk [kist], under some clothes, inside the house.”
One of her relatives whom Lihle referred to as “ouma”, Sanna Tiso, told Paarl Post her last known whereabouts were at a friend’s home, close to her own.
“Her mother was working a shift at Checkers, while her father had taken another child to hospital,” she related. “We suspect she may have returned home to wash late on Friday afternoon.”
The family can only speculate what happened next, since Zenzile was the only other person at home at the time of Lihle’s disappearance.
Palm said the case had been postponed to 23 March, when the accused will make his first regional court appearance.
“At the entrance to Paarl Regional Court are pictures of a number of women and children who have been killed on display. Here’s a picture of Mia (Tamia) Botha (4), killed in September 2022 in Paarl.” Action Society has been mandated by the families to oversee the cases of Mia and Lihle’s killings.
