The Modiboa family buried the badly decomposed body of the man they believed to be the mentally challenged 31-year-old, Thomas Lebotse on 1 September; he had been missing since June.

On Monday, a nursing sister at a Heilbron hospital took the initiative to post Lebotse’s photo on Facebook, pleading for him to be reunited with his family in Potchefstroom. The family’s neighbour saw the post and alerted them about their long lost son at around 18:00 on Tuesday.

Although the family has not been physically reunited with him yet, they could not hide their happiness and cannot wait to bring him home.

His 70-year-old mother, Catherine Masilonyana says she had a feeling that it was not her son that she had identified at the state mortuary. ‘I told the forensic official that the person was not my son. They told me to rather stand outside because I’m old and cannot see properly. They asked me why I would deny knowing my own son.

‘I’m happy that he is alive and he must come home now,’ said the overjoyed mother.

Lebotse disappeared after his mother told him to take a bath. He refused, and left home and never came back. After two months, the authorities called to say there was an unknown man in the mortuary who may be their relative. They went to identify him and one of the family members thought they recognised some features but DNA tests were never conducted. On spring day, under a heavy cloud of sadness, the Modiboas buried the body. Tina Modiboa, the sister, says they were heartbroken when they heard he was dead but that they had already accepted the fact.

She says the police official in charge of the case said they would be able to travel to Heilbron before the end of this week to see if he is, indeed, their family member. ‘We know that it is him and even the scratches on his face are identical to those of my brother’s. There is no doubt about it, he is my brother and he is alive,’ she said smiling broadly.