Still no word on missing Moti brothers

Ten days have passed since the four Moti brothers from Polokwane had gone missing, after being snatched by armed men on their way to school.

Zidan, six, Zayyad, 11, Alaan, 13, and Zia, 15, have been missing since 20 October.

It was reported that a Kia Sorento and a black Mercedes-Benz blocked the BMW they were travelling in on the Tzaneen bypass at the time of the kidnapping. The vehicles were spotted on the R81 road driving out of Polokwane.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said police never comment on kidnapping cases.

The family asked for the safe return of their boys.

Criminologist Professor Jaco Barkhuizen said it was disconcerting that nothing had been heard yet.

“We see this kind of kidnapping of high-net-worth individuals in countries like Brazil. We cannot afford to become a country like [that],” Barkhuizen said.

Barkhuizen said crime didn’t happen in a vacuum and “somewhere in the community, someone knows something”.