Almost 100 children were reported missing in the Western Cape over the past six months, with police, child protection organisations and crime experts warning that the true scale of the problem may be far greater than official figures suggest.
According to the South African Police Service, 98 cases involving missing children under the age of 18 were reported across the province during the six-month period. Of these, 95 children were safely located.
SAPS also confirmed that 16 cases involving children are currently regarded as long-term missing persons cases, often referred to as cold cases.
Behind the figures are names that continue to haunt families and communities, particularly in Mitchells Plain, where several children disappeared without a trace or were found dead after extensive searches.
Seven-year-old Anastasia Lucas disappeared while walking home in Westridge in 1997 and has never been found. That same year, Matthew Ohlsson stepped outside to take out his family’s refuse bin and vanished.
Five-year-old Kauthar Bobbs disappeared while playing in Tafelsig in 2012, while four-year-old Shaskia Michaels vanished from outside her Freedom Park home the following year.
Other searches ended in tragedy.
Five-year-old Rafique Hardien disappeared from Portlands in 2004. His body was found 17 days later near the Westridge swimming pool. Eleven-year-old Annestacia Wiese was found dead in the ceiling of her family’s home in 2007.
Stacha Arendse was found dead in bushes near the Swartklip Centre in 2017, while six-year-old Stacey Adams was discovered buried in a shallow grave near her Eastridge home the following year.
For relatives of children who remain missing, the passing years have brought few answers and little closure.
Bianca van Aswegen, national co-ordinator of Missing Children South Africa, said some unresolved cases dated back to the 1980s.
“Many cases unfortunately end up as cold cases. We even have cases dating back to the 1980s of children who are currently still missing,” she said.
Van Aswegen said delayed reporting, human trafficking and unknown circumstances were among the factors that contributed to cases remaining unresolved.
She said the organisation continued circulating information about long-term missing children to ensure they were not forgotten.
Official figures, she warned, provided only a general indication of the problem because many cases were never reported to police.
Some families living in rural areas struggled to access services, while others lacked trust in the police system or circulated their own posters online without first opening a missing persons case.
“The true figures are more alarming than what will be on paper,” Van Aswegen said.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk said many reported cases involved children running away from their homes, foster care placements or youth centres.
He said contributing factors included unstable home environments, conflict, abuse, neglect and drug or alcohol abuse.
Other cases involved young girls leaving home to meet boyfriends not approved of by their parents, disputes over discipline or pupils skipping school and then being afraid to return home because they feared punishment.
Van Wyk said parents should know where their children were, who they were with and when they were expected to return.
Children should be taught their full names, surnames, addresses and their parents’ contact details. They should also be warned never to leave with strangers, even if the person claimed to have been sent by their parents because of an emergency.
Department of Social Development spokesperson Esther Lewis said the department provided prevention and early intervention child protection services, as well as statutory social work support where abuse, neglect, exploitation or trafficking was suspected.
“DSD becomes involved when psychosocial support or statutory social work interventions are required,” Lewis said.
She said the department cooperated with SAPS investigations involving missing children.
Where the circumstances suggested possible neglect or abuse, and other children remained in the household, social workers could initiate a child protection process to ensure their safety.
Lewis said online safety remained a significant concern, with children increasingly exposed to strangers through social media and communication platforms.
“Parents and caregivers should actively monitor their children’s online activity and educate them about the dangers of communicating with strangers on social media,” she said.
“Online grooming has become an increasing risk factor and can contribute to children going missing.”
Lewis urged parents to teach children, in age-appropriate terms, about dangers posed by both strangers and people known to them.
Parents should also ensure that babysitters, day caregivers, drivers, early childhood development staff, aftercare workers, religious leaders and extra-mural facilitators with access to children were properly vetted.
This should include police clearance and screening against the Child Protection Register.
Independent crime expert Calvin Peter Rafadi also raised concern over the number of children and young teenagers going missing.
Rafadi said parents and guardians needed to closely monitor their children’s behaviour on social media, messaging services and other communication platforms.
He warned that criminal syndicates increasingly used online platforms to groom, monitor, recruit or target vulnerable children for kidnapping, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.
According to Rafadi, some offenders also operated on concealed or so-called dark web platforms, making it essential for parents to understand who their children were communicating with online.
He said a missing child should be reported immediately at the nearest police station, together with a recent photograph and all relevant information.
Police should then register the matter, issue a case or inquiry reference number and circulate the child’s details through the appropriate missing persons channels.
Rafadi also expressed concern about women asking motorists for money at traffic intersections while accompanied by young children.
He said allegations had emerged that, in some cases, the children might not be biologically related to the adults using them to solicit money.
He called on SAPS and the Department of Social Development to investigate any suspected exploitation of children by individuals or criminal syndicates.
“Young children are often unable to speak for themselves and therefore require greater protection from the authorities,” Rafadi said.
Against this backdrop, South Africa’s first pilot Missing Persons Reaction Unit has been launched in Mitchells Plain.
The initiative brings together SAPS, the National Prosecuting Authority, Home Affairs, Metro Police, Law Enforcement, neighbourhood watches and community volunteers.
Faith and Hope Missing Persons founder Veranique “Benji” Williams, who spent years calling for the unit, said the need became clear during the organisation’s early searches.
Between January and June 2019, Faith and Hope assisted in searches involving 302 missing people. Seven were found deceased.
The reaction unit will include investigators, compiling teams, search volunteers, reaction teams and court officials, while also continuing to pursue long-term cases.
“For us, it’s not a cold case because families still need closure,” Williams said.
Van Aswegen stressed that no single organisation could manage missing children cases alone.
“There is no competition when a child or person goes missing. It is a collaborative effort to find the child as soon as possible.”
SAPS, DSD and Missing Children South Africa all repeated the same urgent message: there is no 24-hour waiting period.
A missing child must be reported immediately.
Tracy-Lynn Ruiters
iol.co.za
