Help family trace mother
A nine-year-old girl is left stranded without an ID after her mother disappeared when she was four years old.
Dumsile Nqotheni (30) and the Ndlangamandla family need help tracing the missing mother, Thulisile Ndlangamandla (34), from Phumula, Leondale, last seen in 2018.
According to Nqotheni, they are cousins to Ndlangamandla. She learnt about her disappearance five years ago when she went to Johannesburg for job opportunities.
She said Ndlangamandla left her then four-year-old daughter Thandolwethu Ndlangamandla (now nine) with a family identified as her friends at Phumula.
She tried to look for the child’s mother, following leads from people in the community, but her means did not yield positive results.
She planned to take Thandolwethu to KwaZulu-Natal because the environment was not conducive for her as she was malnourished and not well taken of.
Touched by the situation she saw, Nqotheni informed her mother, Nomasonto Ndlangamandla (59) from Belgrade, Pongola, KZN, and asked if she could stay with the child.
“At the time, she was not attending school or crèche. I took her to Siyeza Primary School in Pongola, where she started Grade One. I had to explain her situation to the principal. She is currently doing well in Grade Three,” said Nqotheni.
She said their current challenge is that the child does not have a birth certificate.
Although the family has welcomed her, their main challenge is that they are unable to fully support her financially, she added.
“Due to the lack of a birth certificate, she cannot access the much-needed child support grant, which can help provide for her basic needs,” she continued.
“I contacted the Department of Home Affairs and the Department of Social Development about the issue, and they requested me to try to find the mother.”
Nqotheni pleads with anyone who has information that could help them find Ndlangamandla to come forward.
“I am doing this in the best interest of the child. We do not know anything about her father.”
Ndlangamandla is said to struggle with alcohol abuse. In a report from the KwaZulu-Natal DSD, the family noted that this was not the only child Ndlangamandla had neglected.
According to Nqotheni, she left two other children with two different families.
To share any information that can help the family find Ndlangamandla, call Ngotheni on 068 256 5991.
