Limpopo farmworker arrested after two 5-year-old girls found hanged

Polokwane - Limpopo police have arrested a 42-year-old farmworker suspected of killing two 5-year-old girls from Ribone village, in Gilead.

The two friends - Lekwelo Ennie Masola and Nthabiseng Motlaphema - went missing on Wednesday after they were last seen playing at an RDP house in the area, Colonel Ronel Otto said.

"Police, together with the community, launched a large search and after almost three days, the naked bodies of the two girls were found hanged from a tree in the bush, approximately 3km from the town, on Saturday," Otto said on Monday.

The possibility that they were raped before being killed was being investigated.

"The suspect, a farmworker, is due to appear in court later this week," she said.

Police provincial commissioner Lieutenant General Nneke Ledwaba expressed shock and outrage over the murders.

"Parents should protect and look after their children and always know of their whereabouts and whether they are safe," Ledwaba said.