A grief-stricken Eastern Cape family, busy preparing for a joyous homecoming ceremony to celebrate their loved one's return from initiation school in January.
But now they are organising his funeral after he was found hanging from a tree in a forest on the outskirts of Mthatha.
The discovery of 21-year-old Ntsika Mdladla's body last Wednesday ended a widespread search after he went missing on 29 November, moments after he was circumcised.