The search for 25-year-old Asimbongekuhle Sibanda has ended in tragedy after her family discovered that she had died in a Gauteng hospital months before they were able to locate her.
Sibanda was reported missing after she was last known to be in Benoni on 24 April 2026. Her disappearance was reported to Benoni police, while her friend, Beverly Mboma, also submitted her case to Missing Person South Africa. (Missing Persons)
However, new information has revealed that Sibanda was admitted to Tambo Memorial Hospital on the same day she was reported missing.
According to information later provided to her family, Sibanda gave the hospital her mother’s Zimbabwean telephone number as a contact number. Attempts to reach the family through that number were reportedly unsuccessful.
Sibanda remained in hospital and died on 15 June 2026.
Her family was unaware of her hospitalisation and death and continued to believe that she was missing.
Family only learns the truth months later
Following the publication of the missing-person appeal, Tambo Memorial Hospital contacted Missing Person South Africa because it was trying to locate Sibanda’s relatives.
The organisation then connected the hospital with the family.
It was through this contact that relatives learned that Sibanda had been admitted to hospital on 24 April, had died on 15 June and had already been buried on 18 September.
The family subsequently went to the hospital and was directed to the funeral parlour that had handled her burial.
The circumstances surrounding her illness and the attempts made to locate her family remain unclear, with Missing Person South Africa saying it would not speculate while relatives establish exactly what happened.
The devastating discovery means Sibanda’s loved ones spent months searching for someone who had already died and been buried without them knowing.
The family is now seeking further information as they come to terms with the circumstances surrounding her death and burial.
