BOPHELONG – He left his home on April 27 and never returned.

Despite his regular pattern of leaving and sometimes not returning for a while, his family never suspected anything.

Until they received news that Nhlanhla Sithole was no longer alive.

This comes after the deceased was involved in an alleged hit-and-run on Nelson Mandela Road in Bophelong Ext 15.

When Ster arrived at the scene on April 28, his mother sat there patiently waiting in agony for his remains to be picked up by forensic pathology.

Dozens of residents braved the chilly morning breeze as they watched from a distance where the 25-year-old’s body lay covered in a pink blanket.

Speaking to the paper, the distraught mother, Elizabeth Sithole, explained the last moments of her son’s life before they received the news.

“Nhlanhla is a person who normally leaves in the morning and never returns. I last saw him on Sunday morning, around 08:00, when he left the yard; little did I know it was the last time we would see him,” she said.

Detailing how they learnt of his demise, Elizabeth said a neighbour knocked at their gate around 06:00, letting them know that her son was lying on the cold gravel next to the road.

“I woke up my firstborn because the person who was yelling from the gate was calling her name. She came back into the house with the news. We went to the scene and found his lifeless body on the side of the road,” she said.

According to the Sithole family, a neighbour told them he heard a bang just before 04:00.

“The person claimed he heard male voices saying ‘put him on the side of the road’, before he heard screeching tires. We have no idea what might have happened to him; however, the banging sound and the words seem to suggest he might have been a victim of a hit-and-run,” said the distraught mother.

Ster reached out to local police for comment on the matter; however, at the time of going to print, no official communication was received.