Jozini child kidnapper to know fate on Wednesday

Jozini child kidnapper to know fate on Wednesday

The woman who kidnapped a six-day-old infant almost a decade ago will know whether she will spend time in jail on Wednesday.

Khanyisile Mkhwanazi-Ngubane pleaded guilty to abducting the child after she was arrested in Daveyton, in Ekurhuleni, last year.

Nhlakanipho’s mother, Fikelephi Mpontshane from Phaweni in Jozini, KwaZulu-Natal, has told the Maputaland Community Radio News team that she is not happy with how things are penning out.

Mpontshane says an investigator told her to go to court on Wednesday, where the kidnapper will be given a suspended sentence.

“I am not happy with that. I want her to be jailed for nine years just as she had done to me or more than that,” she says.

Mkhwanazi-Ngubane pretended to be a social worker when she committed the crime.

She confessed her crime to a social worker, who then contacted the Jozini police.

Relief as two missing Mtubatuba children are found alive

Relief as two missing Mtubatuba children are found alive

The community of KwaMtholo in Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal, is breathing a sigh of relief after finding two children who had gone missing.

Sambulo Mchunu (6) and Zanamuhla Mchunu (5) disappeared last week Wednesday on their way home from school, which is half a kilometre away from their abode.

Upon hearing the news, the community formed a search party and went looking for them. The Msane police also roped in the dog unit to assist in the search.

The children were found in a cave in the bushes not far from their home.

The village chief, Mlandeleni Mkhwanazi, says someone had hidden the children there and was feeding them.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Colonel Thembeka Mbhele, says the children did not show any signs of injury.

They were, however, taken to a health facility for a check-up, just as a precautionary measure.

The children’s grandfather, Nkosinathi Mchunu, has thanked the community – urging the residents to do the same for others should the need ever arise.

Mchunu also urged the perpetrator of this crime to stop their evil deeds.

He has called for calm among community members, saying they must leave the matter to God who will avenge them.

Jozini child kidnapper to know fate on Wednesday

Mtubatuba woman wants justice following false kidnap accusation

A woman who was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a six-day-old infant in Mtubatuba in Mfekayi, KwaZulu-Natal, wants justice.

Thulisile Mfekayi also wants the child’s family to apologise for the pain and humiliation they have caused her.

She is accusing the child’s father of previously threating to burn her house down.

The boy, Nhlakanipho Gumede, is now nine years old and was found in Daveyton’s Emaphupheni section, in Johannesburg last year.

Mfekayi says Gumede’s parents must apologise to the Chief and the Mkhwanazi dynasty for their actions.

“This issue traumatised me and now that the child has been found – they haven’t even said anything to me. They hunted me down and even tried hacking me despite my insistence that I had nothing to do with their child’s disappearance. They even involved the police. I never ran away because I knew I was innocent,” she says.

The child’s mother, Fikelephi Mpotshane, says they were desperate to find the child that they even confused things.

She says a community member who was assisting them with the search for their child had fingered Mfekayi.

However, when she did tell the police that Mfekayi was not the culprit.

She says Mfekayi is not the only one who was suspected of the kidnap.

Mpotshane says once the court case for the woman who is now in custody for the boy’s kidnap is finalised – her family will sit down and decide on how to handle the matter.

Law expert, Professor Xolani Zikhali, is advising Mfekayi to get a lawyer and sue the state for wrongful arrest.

Jozini kidnap victim’s mother hopes for harsher sentence

Jozini kidnap victim’s mother hopes for harsher sentence

The Ingwavuma Magistrate’s Court in KwaZulu-Natal has postponed the child abduction case against Khanyisile Ngubane to next week Tuesday.

Ngubane is accused of kidnapping a 6-day-old infant from Phaweni in 2011, who was found recently in Johannesburg. 

The boy’s mother, Fikelephi Mpontshane, wants Ngubane to spend the rest of her life in jail, saying her heart breaks every time she sees her.

Mpontshane warns that she will take the law into her own hands should she be acquitted.

She says Ngubane robbed her of a chance to nurture her infant son.

Mpontshane alleges that she is not Ngubane’s only victim and fears she might come back for her son, Nhlakanipho.

Nhlakanipho, now nine, was found in 2020 in Daveyton’s Emaphupheni Section in Ekurhuleni after Ngubane confessed to the crime to a social worker.

He had been living with Ngubane’s former boyfriend, Joseph Ndala, at the time.

Police in Jozini have admitted that the case was not easy to crack.

Spokesperson, Captain Senzo Gumede, has urged community members to work closely with the police to fight crime.