THE mother of the four-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on Friday, December 3, wants life sentences to be handed down to each of the accused.
Four people have since been arrested on charges of kidnapping the girl in Clairwood. The suspects, two women aged 79 and 48, and two men aged 23 and 19, appeared in court on Monday, December 6.
Fundi*, said she hopes no parent lives what she went through on the day. Although it is unclear under whose supervision the child was, she said she was called from work by her friend at about 14:00 and was informed of the ordeal.
“We stayed up the whole night as a community on Friday because we could not sleep. Even now, my voice has still not fully recovered,” she said.
The spokesperson for the Brighton Beach police, Captain Louise le Roux, said the lead detective on the case, Detective Sergeant Sanele Ngcobo, opposed bail for the four accused.
They appeared at the Durban Magistrate’s Court where their bail was denied. Le Roux said the many witnesses to the kidnapping assisted with the search.
“The mother’s friend claimed that the child was playing with friends at the Dayal Road grounds.”
The acting station commander, Detective Lieutenant Colonel Tony Govender, established a task team comprising senior detectives and call-group members.
They made their way to the crime scene to interview those concerned. The police were able to obtain footage sourced from a fuel station situated along South Coast Road.
It revealed the kidnapper carrying the girl and putting her inside a vehicle. Leads of the vehicle used in the commission of the crime pointed Ngcobo to Umlazi, M-Section.
He was assisted by Detective Constable Nonto Mazibuko, members of the CPF reaction group and private security companies.
“The owner of the vehicle was found and accompanied the team to the residence of the e-hailing service driver. The driver cooperated and took the team to the house where he had dropped off his passengers.
“There, the team arrested a suspect in F-Section, which led them to Q-Section where they apprehended three individuals at a house,” Le Roux said.
To Fundi’s relief, the child was found in the early hours of Saturday. She said she was elated to learn of the news.
“The police called me at about 04:00. I was still in the company of my neighbours and they advised us to collect her at the police station. We found her unscathed, however, she was fatigued, all she wanted to do was sleep.
“They were allegedly planning on taking my child to Nkandla where they wanted to perform a ritual on her for muthi.
“I will forever be grateful to the Brighton Beach police for the sterling job they did,” she said.
Govender praised members, residents and security companies involved in this case. Le Roux added that parents should mentor their children from a young age not to talk to, get into a vehicle, walk with or take monies, novelties or treats from strangers.
The matter was handed over to Brighton Beach’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigations.
*Not her real name.
