According to Barries Barnard from Hi5 Kids Recovery Unit, they received information that Botha’s vehicle was seen in Sundra, Mpumalanga at around 9pm.
“We followed each possible link to try and find Botha,” he says.
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The police and Barnard feared that they might not find Botha alive, but stayed positive throughout the two day search.
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The Sundra CPF contacted Barnard and informed him that a vehicle, fitting the description and number plates of Botha’s vehicle, was seen in Sundra.
The Sundra CPF member followed Botha’s vehicle.
Barnard and a Benoni SAPS member noticed the vehicle in Welgedacht Road in Persida at 9.30pm.
“When Botha stopped on the side of the road, I asked him to get into my vehicle as I wanted to take him home to his family,” says Barnard.
It was 9.35pm, when Barnard phoned Botha’s wife Trudie Botha to inform her that her husband was safe.
Barnard claims, Botha informed him he just wanted to clear his head, which is exactly what Trudie hoped he was doing.
“On hearing the news that her husband was safe, Trudie burst into tears,” says Barnard.
