The mother of the eight-year-old Fortune Khumalo, whose private parts were sliced off by an alleged human parts merchant in August, said she will never forget and forgive the perpetrator for what he had done to her bright young boy.

She spoke for the first time about the incident after the boy was discharged from Garankua Hospital this week. Ms Nancy Siweya poured her heart out in an exclusive interview with Mirror at her house at Jilongo Village outside Malamulele.

Siweya said she is happy that the boy was discharged from the hospital, but her impoverished family’s woes are worse than bad. She said ever since the incident, the boy had changed and he had become withdrawn. She said the promising young boy distrusts people, even those close to him.

She added that she was faced with a mammoth challenge of having to accompany the boy to school on a daily basis, as he is afraid of strangers. "The whole incident had put our lives upside down. We are a very poor family who rely on piece jobs for survival, but now I won’t be able to go and look for a job, she said.

Siweya said as parents they were very proud to have a son as their firstborn and they thought that he would grow up and have children of his own, but now all hopes have been dashed as his manhood had been sliced off. "My boy used to be a good learner and we had many expectations from him and we thought that he would do the family proud one day," she said. She said the incident not only disturbed them emotionally but also hit them hard financially. She said for the whole month she spent at the hospital, she was using R12 on transport daily, as she was renting a room at a nearby informal settlement.

"I relied on donations from Shigombe Primary School, where the boy is a Grade 3 learner, and also the goodwill of other people. She said she is supposed to go back to the hospital for the boy’s check-up on the November 5 and this will still require her to have money.

The paternal grandmother, Ms Sophie Khumalo, was close to tears when she narrated the incident. She said the people who were behind the whole thing were heartless. "How can they do this to my grandson? What type of human beings are they who cut a person alive?" she asked. "When he came back from hospital I was happy. But my happiness is spoiled by the thought that he will not have children and will not have a wife," she said.

The principal of Shigombe Primary, Mr Risimati Hlungwani, said it will take time for the boy to recover. He said the once bright and energetic boy has totally changed and still needs counseling. He said the boy needs attention and needs somebody to accompany him to the toilet, as he is afraid. Hlungwani said the trust fund launched after the incident has not received much support from the public.

Hlungwani said they were still calling on all South Africans to rally around the family and give financial support as the family is indigent and cannot do this on their own. Those willing to make a difference to the family can contribute to The Fortune Khumalo Family Fund, FNB Malamulele, Account number 62151417360.