Bloemfontein - The human bones found at a landfill site near Virginia in the Free State in 2007 are those of a white man, police said on Monday.
Warrant Officer Malebo Khosana said he was thought to have been between the ages of 31 and 73.
An anthropology report by the University of Pretoria, which also supplied police with a face reconstruction of the victim, had helped narrow down the origin of the bones, he said.
Police had issued a sketch of the victim.
Khosana said the cause and time of his death were still unknown.
The bones were discovered at the Phomolong dumping site by scavengers on March 20, 2007.
Police found several bones, including a skull, arm, and thigh, covered with a brown sleeping bag. It was determined that the bones had been dumped there by a refuse truck bringing rubbish from Ventersburg. - Sapa