R8000 reward offered for Chaka’s safe return

SA CAN and various other interested parties have raised the reward to R8000 for information leading to the safe return of Shongweni K9 Unit’s, Chaka, who went missing last Friday.

According to Andreas Mathios of SA Can, the initial reward stood at R1000, then flyers were distributed offering a R3000 reward, but between Sunday and today (Tuesday 21 October), the reward has been raised to R8000.

“More contributions have poured in to raise the reward. We also hired a police helicopter to search for Chaka again today. The helicopter has been searching the reported areas for four days now since Friday, except on Sunday,” said Matthios.

He said many people have asked him why such an extensive search for a dog. But he replied saying Chaka is not just a dog, it is a dog that has brought in many suspects during his service and did his part in keeping the community safe.

Chaka went missing just before midnight on Thursday after he and his handler, Constable Elliot Mdadane of the Shongweni K9 Unit, responded to a business break-in in Wiltshire Road. They found four thieves fleeing the business and chased them into dense bushes nearby. The thieves split up and Mdadane released Chaka to chase after one of the suspects, but he did not return.

As word of Chaka’s disappearance spread, members of the newly formed Neighbourhood Watch Association, which is coordinated by Mathios, swung into action and volunteered to help in the search on Saturday.

“More than 60 volunteers gathered in Wiltshire Road where a mobile command centre was set up to coordinate the search on Sunday. The volunteers searched along the uMhlatuzana River, and followed the railway tracks that snaked from Thornwood to Klaarwater where they kept in contact with the command centre and the police. A member of the community who owns a remote controlled aircraft that has a camera attached, assisted in the search by scouring dense bushes inaccessible on foot,” said Mathios.

Several residents reported sightings of a big black dog wandering the area and a woman directed the search team to an area around the Mariannhill police station late on Sunday afternoon where she believed she had seen “a black dog with a big head and no tail”. The team searched that area on Monday but it was not Chaka.

Anyone with information on Chaka, who is a four-year-old, male Rottweiler with no tail, is urged to contact SA Can on 086 167 2226 or Captain Neil Thaver of the Shongweni K9 Unit on 083 321 7285.