Missing 9-year-old girl found unharmed

Nine-year-old Sinenhlanhla Bhengu who was reported missing on Friday has been found unharmed.

The Pink Ladies, a non-profit organisation that assists the police with finding missing persons, distributed online flyers after Sinenhlanhla was reported missing in Mondeor on March 5.

Readers are reminded that there is no waiting period to report a person missing.

ALSO READ: Help Mondeor SAPS find missing 9-year-old girl

According to the South African Police Service Missing Persons Bureau, a child goes missing every five hours in South Africa. When something like this happens to you, it can make you feel powerless and hopeless, but there is something you can do now to help your child should they ever go missing.

What to do when a child goes missing

There is an ongoing impression that you need to wait at least 24 hours to report a person missing. This is not true at all- there is no waiting period to report a person, including a child, as missing. You must go to the police as soon as you suspect that the child has been abducted or disappeared. According to the South African Police Service, you need to do the following when reporting a missing person:

• Produce a recent photograph of the missing child
• You need to give a description of the child, where were they last seen and with whom, what were they wearing, their age, their hair colour, eye colour
• You need to sign a form at the police station which safeguards the police from false reports and indemnifies the police to distribute the picture and information of the missing child
• Get the details of the investigating officer and inform them of any new information that may arise
• Should the child return home or be found by other people but not the police, it’s your responsibility as parent to inform the investigating offer so that they can give you another form to fill and they can inform the Bureau for Missing Persons to remove you from the circulation system… Read more