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.
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.
