Durban — Years after having reported their children missing some parents still yearn for closure as their children’s disappearances remain a mystery.
One such unsolved case is that of Asimele Buthelezi who at the age of 3 disappeared in 2016. She was last seen playing with other children at church in Mahlabathini, northern KZN.
Asimele’s grandmother Nkosingiphile Buthelezi said after six years the family was still hurting from not having found the child.
“There has been absolutely nothing that has come up pointing us to her, it’s like the whole thing never happened; like a folk tale when it happened in reality and we are facing it.”
She said Asimele had gone to church with other children.
“We now just want her body found, if she is found alive that will be a bonus for us, we just want closure and to know what happened to the child. Right now it feels like nothing happened like she was not taken and there’s no indication of where to and what happened to her.”
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Nqobile Gwala said after 11 years, Mfundiso Knowledge Ngubane who was 6 years old when he was snatched had not been found.
She said the child had been with three friends going between sugarcane plantations playing when an unknown adult male approached them from the front.
“The unknown man pursued the children through the sugarcane plantation, they all took different directions and Mfundiso never returned home,” she said.
Gwala said 5-year-old Fanele Simelane who was reported missing last April in Pongola, had also not been found.
She said the missing child was visiting his stepmother and had gone to play with other children when he was left behind.
“The stepmother was busy with the washing when the child went missing. The missing child has speech impairment by lisping, he was wearing blue underwear and has a scratch on his chin and forehead.”
In Limpopo, the mother of 19-month-old Hlawuleko Prosperity Rhikotso who was snatched in February 2020 in Giyani still hoped to find her child alive.
According to police, body remains suspected to have been those of Hlawuleko were discovered in 2021, however, DNA confirming this was still outstanding.
“A suspect was arrested in 2020, however, he was killed in custody by other inmates in that year,” said police spokesperson Constable Ridgewell Rikhotso.
Hlawuleko’s mother Tlangelani Rhikotso said after not hearing from the police she contacted them in April this year and was able to find out that the DNA did not match that of her child.
“When were they going to tell me? I still think my child is out there. There is a lot that does not make sense; they say the suspect is dead but I don’t have any evidence of that.
“When they informed me that (he) had been killed I asked to go and see the body but I was refused that opportunity and told that I am not family.”
In April this year in the Western Cape, a 2-month-old baby girl Kai-isha Meniers was kidnapped. On Wednesday, police confirmed that the infant had not yet been found.
Police in this region also said 9-year-old Theora Seneke Jeneva Diergal, who disappeared while playing outside in Vredendal, also still had not been found.
Daily News