A five-year-old boy was killed by two pit bulls as they tore him apart while he walked home to his mum.

The boy had been staying the night with his grandmother when he set off back to his home and was attacked by the dogs as he walked down the street.

The attack was so savage that a tooth from one of the dogs punctured the terrified boy’s right kidney with its powerful bite.

Police later named the victim as Zibele Liyakhanya Mthi who was found still alive by horrified neighbours in the village of Dyamala, near the town of Alice in South Africa’s Eastern Cape.

He was rushed to hospital but died later from his severe injuries.

Zibele had been walking home to his mum at 8am on 7th April so the family could go to a Good Friday Easter church service together, according to local media.

South Africa’s SPCA animal charity has reportedly taken the dogs into care when a decision is made on what to do with them.

The dogs are understood to have escaped from a home near Zibele ‘s grandmother’s house.

The tragedy has increased calls for pit bulls to be banned in domestic homes in South Africa, with a petition launched to urge the government to act before there are more child deaths.