Mpumalanga police are investigating the murder of seven-year-old Thandolwethu Mahlangu, whose body was discovered hidden under rubble behind a shack in Delpark Extension 2. She went missing on Monday evening after leaving home to visit her father, prompting an overnight community search.

Her mother later received a text from an unknown number demanding R30 000 allegedly owed by the child’s father. Police are probing whether the ransom demand is linked to the killing and have appealed to the public for any information that could assist the investigation.