Nandipha Rayi is mourning the loss of her 13-year-old son
Image: BRANDON NEL
As a Nelson Mandela Bay mother searched desperately for her missing 13-year-old son, she had no idea he was already lying dead in an open field — badly decomposed and dressed only in his underpants and school shirt.
Nandipha Rayi said she only saw Philela Bululu when community members found his body a week after he disappeared.
And now all the 38-year-old has left of the boy she so lovingly raised is the lunchbox with the egg sandwiches he made for himself before leaving for school — still standing on the kitchen counter — and the haunting image of his little body where it was found.
With tears streaming down her face, Rayi told IOL on Wednesday that she was a broken mom and struggling to come to terms with what had happened.
"I am devastated, and my mind went blank when I saw his body," the heartbroken mother said in the living room of her modest Mavavana Street, Kwazakele home.
Philela Bululu was found dead in Kwazakhele, Nelson Mandela Bay, on Tuesday
Image: SUPPLIED
Little Philela, police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetgé said, was reported missing on Monday last week.
"He left his home to go to school but never returned home again," Beetgé said of the Kayser Ngxwana Primary School pupil.
"He also did not show up at his school that day."
He said the boy's body was found in an open field in Mahambehlala Street, Kwazakele, at about 6.30pm on Tuesday.
Beetgé said there were no visible injuries on his body and that an inquest docket had been opened.
And though the cause of the boy's death was not immediately known, as a post-mortem was being done, Rayi said she needed answers.
She said the day Philela disappeared began like any other.
"On that Monday morning I was preparing to go to work," she said.
"Philela and my second-born were home and as usual, I said goodbye to them while trying to catch a taxi just after 5am.
"I needed to be at work by 8am."
She said her husband was on night shift the previous night and came home later that morning.
"When I left for work, all of the children were preparing to go to school," Rayi said.
"My husband went to the gym after returning from his shift and came back later that morning ... as he was about to sleep, children from the school came to the house to ask why Philela had not arrived at school.
"My husband was confused and told them that he should already be there.
"He phoned me and asked where Philela was and so I said 'what do you mean? He must be at school'.
"My husband then went to the school, where the teacher confirmed that Philela had never arrived that day."
Rayi said sheer panic then kicked in and she told her husband to check Philela’s phone.
"But it was not at home," she said.
"We tried calling it and someone answered, but the person did not speak.
"We could not tell who it was."
While at work, Rayi said she desperately skimmed through Facebook, hoping Philela might be online.
"At first it said one hour ago, then later three minutes ago or four minutes ago," she said.
"I thought this meant he was still somewhere nearby as he was online then just now."
But as the hours went by, nothing changed.
"Philela was not the type of child who went missing for hours on end," she said.
When her other child came back from school, Rayi said her husband asked him what had happened that morning.
"He explained that they had walked together for a while ... Philela would normally arrive [at school] just before 8am," she said.
"That morning, Philela told his brother he was going to check on his friend before school.
"The friend often came to our house and would sometimes even make porridge for him.
"But on that day, when we went to the friend’s house, Philela had not been there at all and no one had seen him."
Rayi said they searched everywhere.
"We went door to door, and we spoke to family members ... we also followed voice notes that people were sending, including one from someone who claimed to have dreamt of him running through an area between two neighbourhoods.
"We even took this lead to the police and asked if we could search the area."
She said they then did exactly that on Tuesday.
"We checked shacks, open land, and farms, and some community members helped look for him with dogs but we found nothing.
"Later, around 4.30pm, the detective suggested going back to some shacks that had been closed earlier.
"We searched again, still with no luck."
As they were about to return home, the distraught mother said, they received a community voice note saying a body had been found near the power station.
"We went there immediately," she said.
"He was still in his school uniform and his shirt and underwear were still on him, and his trousers were found next to him.
"His school shoes were at home, but the flip-flops he had been wearing that morning were missing.
"His lunchbox was still in the house — he had made himself an egg sandwich before leaving, because he did not like the sour milk served at school."
Rayi said what she saw would forever stay with her, a picture she said would never leave her mind no matter how hard she tried to forget.
"His body was already decomposed, and I could not see any visible injuries ... his body was very much swollen.
"There was no blood that I could see.
"We are still waiting for the post-mortem results to understand what happened to him."
She said she was completely devastated.
"My mind went blank when I saw him and I still cannot process what happened."
She said Philela was excited to start high school next year.
"We had already collected the school forms and everything ... he was looking forward to it.
"He was a bright little boy."
She said he had the lofty dream of one day becoming an ambulance driver.
Rayi then burst into uncontrollable sobs.
After composing herself, she said: "He wanted to drive an ambulance one day ... he always said he wanted to help people and save lives, though he was still so young."
Rayi said her son loved dancing and singing.
"He was always noisy, always full of energy ... sometimes we would laugh and tell him 'yo, bruh, please not today' when he got too loud, but it was all in good fun."
"He had just turned 13 in August.
"We had promised to save up to buy him a PlayStation because we did not have enough money at the time.
"Now Christmas is coming, and we will be without him."
Funeral details were not immediately available.
Beetgé said the investigation was ongoing.
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