BULAWAYO – Police in Plumtree are investigating the unexplained death of the 20-year-old son of Premier Soccer League secretary general Kennedy Ndebele, whose body was found near Plumtree on Wednesday, three days after he was reported missing.
Ndabenhle, who lived in Southwold in Bulawayo with his parents, was last seen on Sunday at around 3PM walking on Banbury Road in nearby Montrose suburb.
His family raised the alarm after he failed to return home. His body was found on Wednesday, 7km from Plumtree town – 100km from Bulawayo – next to the highway.
Law enforcement sources said his feet were swollen and blistered.
“The working theory is that he died from respiratory distress, or dehydration,” one investigator said.
It remains unclear why he took that direction, or how he got to the edges of Plumtree – the last town before the border with Botswana.
In a Facebook post on Thursday with a picture of himself and his son, Ndebele said: “Feeling heartbroken.”
Police have told the family to wait for a postmortem report to determine the cause of death.
The Premier Soccer League and the Zimbabwe Football Association have sent condolence messages to the family.
