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Knysna mayor, Georlene Wolmarans and acting municipal manager, Charl Botha, joined a search party which found the body of a woman who had been missing since last week.
A massive search involving police, municipal police, fire department officials and private ambulance personnel, among others, was conducted after 31-year-old Emmerentia Witbooi was reported missing at the end of last month.
Police spokesperson, captain Malcolm Pojie, says her body was discovered in a ditch in Hornlee in the early hours of Monday morning, covered under a mattress and debris.
He says a post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow and a case of murder is under investigation.
"The discovery was made after information was followed up by Knysna detectives regarding the last whereabouts of the deceased, based on questioning those she had last been seen with," said Pojie.
"The half naked body of the deceased was covered with an old mattress and debris in a shallow ditch. There was no visible injuries to the body accept for her nose that was covered with blood," he added.
Meanwhile, executive mayor Wolmarans says while she's "content" that there is closure for the Witbooi family, she's "saddened at the fact that the search for the missing young woman took as long as it did."
She said the municipality had initiated a search operation for Ms Witbooi on Thursday 2 August.
"Emerentia had been missing since Friday 27 July and as very little progress had been made to locate her, we decided to see if we could help."
"I once again extend my deepest sympathies to her family and loved ones, and thank SANparks, ER24, Metro ambulance services and our own municipal employees, and in particular the volunteers from the community of Hornlee for their selfless dedication and unflagging efforts," Wolmarans concluded.
(Image: Knysna executive mayor Georlene Wolmarans)
