THE kidnapping of a four-year-old albino boy of uMkhobose Reserve, is sending shockwaves of fear, outrage, helplessness and sadness through the community as the search for the child continues without result.
In a strange twist of events, the search for Maneliswa Ntombela thwarted the abduction of another albino boy and the arrest of the woman allegedly attempting to sell the 12-year-old of eManguzi to a sangoma for R100 000.
Tragically, Maneliswa’s case is unique only because it made headlines, sparked a community riot, a police investigation and culminated in the prevention of a likely muti murder.
Several cases of missing Zululand children remain unsolved.
He is only one of about 1 700 South African children reported missing every year, not including unreported cases.
SAPS statistics reveal that a child goes missing in South Africa every five hours, but this is seldom reported on in the national media.
In February, a 14 year-old boy was kidnapped at gunpoint from his homestead in Port Durnford Reserve, eSikhaleni.
Nhlanhla Melusi Gumede, a Grade 7 pupil of Mhlanga School, was last seen on 13 February at a communal water tap near his home at around 7.15 pm.
According to reports, he was kidnapped by five male suspects at gunpoint and transported in a green vehicle of unknown model and make.
He was reported missing by his mother Fikile Zandile Tembe and there was a possible suspect. He was never seen again.
In January 2010, 11 year-old Lindani Dlamini was abducted in a car driven by four suspects, while searching for honey in the Mondi forests.
Forgotten
His friend, who escaped, pointed out a known cattle driver working for a known sangoma, as the one who lured them to the spot.
Lindani was never found and forgotten by all except his family.
While the Zululand Observer investigated the case, the skeletal remains of a boy was recovered in the area, but the clothes did not match Lindani’s.
If it was not Lindani, who was it?
The burnt remains of a young girl was also found in the forest. The remains possibly belonged to a girl who boarded a bus to visit her grandmother, but never arrived here.
She was abducted, possibly raped, murdered and her body was set alight.
The case came and went virtually unnoticed.
Another child’s skeleton was found tied to a tree – as far as is known, he was never identified.
Without the help of specialists, civilian forums, volunteers and the business community, there is no way to stop the rapid increase of child abductions.
That is why the Richards Bay CPFs of the greater Richards Bay area, together with a SAPS contingent, gathered at the Huberta Hall earlier this month to debate the possibility of kick-starting a local missing person’s forum through co-operation between the CPFs, police and the People Search and Rescue Unit (PSARU).
