Alleged victim: Zanele Hlatshwayo is thought to be the victim who was murdered and cut up before her flesh was shared around neighbors

Hlatshwayo is believed to be the victim of five cannibals who were arrested after the exposure of the brutal rape and murder of the young woman whose flesh was then eaten in a scandal that is rocking South Africa.
Nino Mbatha, 32, Sthembiso Sithole, 31, Lindokuhle Masondo, 32, and Lungisani Magubane, 30, faced charges of murder and conspiracy to murder, when they appeared at Estcourt Magistrate’s Court earlier this week.
The four men were arrested in after one of them handed himself over to police, admitting that he had grown tired of eating human flesh. The man took officers back to a house in the city of Pietermaritzburg, near Durban where body parts and a mutilated body of a woman were found.
So far, more than 300 people in surrounding villages have so far admitted to knowingly eating human flesh, and at the home of one of the arrested men eight human ears were found in a cooking pot.
Many villagers have come forward to report relatives and friends missing leading to police fear there could be many more victims.

Hlatshwayo vanished on July 25 after heading for Pietermaritzburg to visit her grandmother and had stopped to see relatives at Estcourt 20 miles away en-route. She never arrived at her intended final destination.
Detectives said the alleged victim’s mother was not overly concerned, but her feelings changed on Monday when Hlatshwayo’s cousin Nozipho Hlatshwayo heard that four men had been arrested in Estcourt for cannibalism.
The four, along with a fifth man, have been charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder as part of an alleged cannibalism ring which could include untold victims.
The first four arrested, including two which doctors, were taken into custody after a man walked into a police station and told officers he was ‘tired of eating human flesh’ and produced human body parts as proof.
A fifth man was arrested on Wednesday and will appear in court with the other four on Monday for a formal bail hearing.

Times Live reported how Nozipho, of Estcourt, phoned an aunt in Pietermaritzburg to check if Hlatshwayo was safe. When she was told she had never arrived she said she was ‘chilled to the spine’.
Nozipho, with tears in her eyes, said:’We went straight to the police. An officer asked us what Zanele had been wearing on the day she left home. I was so close to Zanele that I knew even the colour of underwear she had on the day.
‘She wore black leggings, a shirt and a bag in which she had stuffed her jeans. I gave the police officer this description and he asked us to wait.’
When the police officer returned, he carried into the room what Nozipho believes is the outfit Hlatshwayo had been wearing – soaked in blood.
They were told an armless, beheaded and severely mutilated body had been found in Esigodlweni, east of Estcourt, in a veld.
The Hlatshwayos are among about half-a-dozen families who have since gone to police in Estcourt to check whether their missing loved ones were victims in the cannibalism scandal that has rocked the largely rural community.
Nozipho said that just before Hlatshwayo left for Pietermaritzburg she had spoken to them about apparent kidnappings in the area. She was reportedly worried that abductions were on the rise.
Nozipho said: ‘The police would not show us her body and the body has been sent for a post-mortem. The body will not be released until the identity is confirmed.’

Following the arrest of a fifth man believed to be involved in the bizarre cannibalism scandal in at least three villages surrounding Estcourt, police believe more suspects and accomplices will be arrested.
Armed guards have been brought in to increase security at the court appearances for the suspected cannibals, as tempers are running hot with a large number of local people reported missing.
The revelations prompted villagers in Esigodlweni to hold a public meeting where 300 admitted eating human flesh or digging up bodies and selling their bones to traditional witch doctors.
After the first man walked into the police station with body parts, he led officers to a house where more body gruesome remains were found which led to the discovery of the woman’s mutilated body.

One of the killers walked into the police station in Estcourt, [photo], and told officers that he had become ‘tired of eating human flesh’

Police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed the man handed over body parts during questioning.Five men had been arrested and faced a number of charges relating to the possession of human organs and tissue and that three face charges of murdering a woman, Col. Mbhele [right], said.
She added that many of the locals also admitted to digging up graves and giving one of the witchdoctors bones which they were told would make them strong and protect them from harm and bring wealth.
Colonel Mbhele said the man handed over body parts during questioning. She said ‘Three are alleged to have murdered a woman and then cut her body up and allegations are that some consumed some of her flesh and body parts were shared with a fourth suspect.
‘Human remains were found at one crime scene in Estcourt and at another crime scene in Amangwe. At this time only one person is suspected of being killed and her identity is as yet unknown.
‘This came after a man walked into a police station and said he was tired of eating human flesh and when questioned produced part of a human leg and hand.
‘Further investigations led police to a house where they were met with a foul smell and more human remains were found. It is alleged three men raped, killed and cut up a the body which they then consumed’.
The killing of people in South Africa for their body parts to be used in ‘muti’ [medicine] by witchdoctors is not uncommon and people with albinism are particularly at risk of being victims of  muti-killings.
The investigation is still under way, with authorities urging people whose relatives have disappeared in the vicinity of Estcourt to come forward.
A team of forensic experts has been called in to identify the remains, as it is not clear whether the body parts belong to one or several victims.