Mother allegedly sells toddler to 'witch doctor' for £3,100

A South African mother, named Kuneuwe Shalaba, has been accused of selling her two-year-old daughter to a 'witch doctor'.

On Monday, June 02, she appeared alongside 'shaman' Sebokoana Khounyana, in court, charged with the brutal murd£r of her toddler, who she allegedly sold for £3,100.

The two-year-old schoolgirl vanished outside her home in Saldanha Bay, near Cape Town, in February last year and was never seen again.

A major search effort was launched after Kuneuwe Shalaba, reported her child missing. 

At first, Shalaba claimed the deceased child, Kutlwano, was a boy, but later admitted she was a girl. 

She claimed the toddler was snatched from her by three kidnappers who sped off in a VW Golf near Johannesburg.

Police deployed a search party and had been searching for the child for 6 months before investigators discovered that just two hours before they received the report, a large amount of money was paid into Shalaba's bank.

Shalaba, had her phone calls analysed by investigators, which led police to a sangoma or 'witch doctor' working out of a nearby taxi rank.

National Police Authority spokesman Lumka Mahanjana said in a statement that when arrested, the sangoma confessed to his part in the disappearance of the girl and led officers to an abandoned mine. 

After digging,  police discovered a skeleton, which is currently undergoing a post-mortem to determine the exact cause of death and if any of her body parts had been harvested.