SA's missing kids and the agony of parents who never stop hoping

Daily Maverick

3 days ago

Hundreds of South African children go missing every year. Most are found, but many are not. For the families left behind, the pain is excruciating – and endless.
Zama Nkabinde is one of thousands of parents living with the pain of a missing child. It has been 15 years since her daughter, Amahle, disappeared without a trace. At the time, four-year-old Amahle was living in a place of safety with her brother, Sizo, and several other children.
Nkabinde had moved to Pietermaritzburg to escape family woes in Johannesburg and hoped for a fresh start.
'I was running away from our family's issues, wanting a new life for me and my children, away from everything, only to end up unlucky,' she told Daily Maverick.
Tragedy struck when a fire broke out at the place of safety, claiming the lives of 11 people. Amahle was not confirmed to be among the dead. None of the recovered bodies was positively identified as hers.
Photos taken by the group of children involved in the fire suggested Amahle was not present at the time, and a pathologist's report supported this.
A day before the fire, when Nkabinde phoned the facility, she was told Amahle was out playing far from the premises.
'When they told me Amahle's body had burnt to ashes, I couldn't believe it,' Nkabinde recalled. 'I asked to see my little boy in the hospital, and he didn't have a single burn wound. If Sizo didn't burn, what killed Amahle when she could've escaped, too?'
Fifteen years have passed, but Nkabinde has never stopped searching or believing. She's convinced Amahle is still alive – a belief supported by two traditional healers.
'I am confident that one day she will be found,' she said.
According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), 632 children were reported missing in 2024, down from 742 in 2023.
Earlier this year, the police said 8,743 children had been reported missing over the past 10 years. Missing Children South Africa estimates that 77% of missing children are found, and 23% remain missing or are found dead.
In May 2025, the SAPS reported that over the past five years, it had reunited 2,963 missing children with their families, 1,919 of whom were female and 967 male. The police said missing persons were found 'through intelligence and meticulous detective work', but thousands of children across the country still remain missing.
Like many parents of missing children, Nkabinde has grown despondent over the years – not only from the loss, but from what she sees as a lack of urgency and attention given to her daughter's case.
Her frustration is further deepened when she compares her experience to other, more recent cases of missing children – such as that of Joshlin Smith, which drew national attention and swift action, although Joshlin, who was six when she went missing in Saldanha Bay in February 2024, has not been found.
'There were helicopters, sniffer dogs, teams of officers and volunteers – the whole country looking… And don't get me wrong, every missing child deserves that. But so does Amahle. Why wasn't her case treated with the same urgency?'
Still, Nkabinde hasn't given up hope – even if it feels like her last chance.
Her final hope rests with KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who took over Amahle's case in December 2024. His decision to reopen and investigate the case again has given Nkabinde a small sense of hope.
'Happening everywhere'
Missing Children South Africa, a nonprofit organisation that works closely with the SAPS on missing persons cases, has observed a rise in the number of children reported missing.
According to its national coordinator, criminologist Bianca van Aswegen, children go missing for varying reasons. In some cases, they run away from home, often because of abuse or challenging home environments. Other cases involve kidnapping, which can occur for multiple reasons, including human trafficking, illegal adoptions, forced labour and sexual exploitation.
Sadly, there are cases where children disappear for no known reason, because they have not yet been found.
'It can happen to anyone at any time, at any place,' Van Aswegen said.
'So we cannot really pinpoint at this point on gender, age, geography. It really is happening all over South Africa, and really anyone can become a victim.
'There are no particular provinces or regions that are affected. This is affecting the whole of South Africa. We're seeing it from little towns to big cities like Cape Town and [those in] Gauteng. So this is something that is happening everywhere,' she said.
One of the main factors contributing to a decrease in the number of children being found is a widespread belief that 24 hours must pass before a person can be reported missing. That used to be the case, but the police now recommend reporting a missing person immediately. 'The quicker the case gets reported, the quicker action can be taken,' Van Aswegen said.
Another factor is that cases aren't being reported because parents and caregivers are reluctant to go to the police, making it difficult to assess the true number of missing children.
Many families are now using social media and putting out flyers, but they are not contacting the police, which hampers investigations.
'And those cases aren't getting reported. That also has an influence on the statistics because a lot of cases go unreported,' Van Aswegen said.
While the country is currently commemorating Child Protection Week, she said: 'Our children's safety is a priority. It takes a village to raise a child, and it takes a village to keep a child safe.
'So in light of Child Protection Week … we urge people to please be vigilant. Know where your children are at all times.'
Jacqui Thomas, director of the Pink Ladies Organisation, which works to reunite missing children with their loved ones, said the reasons children go missing 'obviously differ immensely from case to case'.
However, she pointed to common trends, such as families that have a 'lack of resources (poverty, unemployment, lack of provision of adequate mental health services), fractured families and a general decline in moral fibre of adult populations who are tasked with caring for the young and elderly'.
The Pink Ladies Organisation has dealt with 291 cases so far in 2025 – 143 children are still missing, 138 have been found and 10 have been found dead.
Poverty, violence, neglect
Joshlin Smith's mother, her mother's boyfriend and a friend of theirs were convicted of human trafficking and kidnapping, highlighting the issue of trafficking in persons (TIP). In his statement during sentencing in the trial this week, former Hawks member and trafficking expert Dr Marcel van der Watt said: 'While not all missing persons cases are connected to TIP, many TIP incidents involve individuals who are reported or perceived as missing.
'Children and adults go missing for a variety of reasons, often linked to challenging or traumatic circumstances. Some may run away from home to escape issues such as domestic or sexual violence, while others, particularly those with mental health challenges, may become lost.
'Individuals can also fall victim to crimes, including gender-based violence, kidnappings such as opportunistic abductions, parental abductions or kidnappings linked to traditional med­­icine practices, and TIP.
'In some cases, the missing persons are later discovered in mortuaries as unidentified individuals, while others may disappear due to suicide.
'We cannot ignore the stories of victims like Joshlin Smith, who is still missing. Her case is a stark re­minder of the countless other Joshlins out there, children whose names we may never know, who have been taken and never found,' Van der Watt told the court.
He referred to Robyn Wolfson Vorster's four-part series on missing children in Daily Maverick in 2021. Wolfson Vorster said children were often vulnerable to going missing because of 'poverty, violence, neglect, unsafe environments, dysfunctional families, institutional care, harmful cultural practices, undocumented status, inadequate policing and government policy'.
Children are protected by various rights under the Constitution, but Wolfson Vorster said the government's 'policies and practices preventing children going missing or being exploited are inadequate'.
She cited Patricia Martin, from the South African National Child Rights Coalition, who said the lack of programmes is a 'systematic implementation breakdown'.
Wolfson Vorster said a shortage of police resources, including DNA backlogs, the inconsistent application of policing protocols and failures in developing the necessary policies to protect children had exacerbated the problem.
Searching without funding
Veronique Williams, the founder of Faith Hope Missing Persons in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, is a former police officer. She was a manager for the Pink Ladies Organisation before she started Faith Hope five years ago and now helps families find their children.
'My heart was always there for children. I've always said that when I grow up and have a lot of money, I'd like to build a shelter where I can pick up children from the streets, care for them and provide them with the education they need to realise their dreams,' Williams said.
But her nonprofit organisation, which covers the Western Cape, struggles with money, often asking companies for help.
'When we receive a report about a missing child, we post a flyer on social media and travel to the location as quickly as feasible to conduct a search. Sometimes trips are delayed because we need to wait for petrol money,' Williams said.
Her plea to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu is to establish a fully equipped missing persons unit that includes dogs, drones, helicopters and cellphone tracking devices.
She said search teams are thrilled when they find a child, but it's devastating when, after days, weeks and months of searching, a child remains missing.
'But we don't give up.'
Mother's pain still palpable
Interviews with mothers whose children have been missing for years revealed that their pain is palpable, as if their children had disappeared yesterday.
They recounted their heartbreaking memories, sleepless nights and depression linked to their missing children.
Anthea Michaels (38) is the mother of Shaskia Michaels, who went missing at the age of four on 5 September 2013 while playing outside her home in Bayern Munich Road, Tafelsig, Cape Town.
When Daily Maverick met Michaels and her parents Roslyn Faroa (59) and Gert (57) on 14 May, they were relaxing in the sun with neighbours outside their home. The day Shaskia went missing, the child was living with her parents.
Michaels said: 'It has been nearly 12 years since my child vanished. I can't explain how I feel.'
She still clings to the hope that her child is alive. 'I'm still very hurt. Every day when I watch the children play in the street, I think about how she would have been today. She turned 16 this year.'
Roslyn Faroa said: 'The Joshlin case has opened old wounds… The wait eats away at one's soul.
'The most painful moment is on her birthday on 2 April. On that day, we buy chips and sweets for the children in the road and although she is not here, the children will sing 'Happy birthday, Shaskia'.'
'No mother should have to go through this'
Lameez Bobbs is the mother of Kauther, who disappeared at the age of five on 12 October 2012. She was last seen playing with her friends at a park in Cedarburg Road in Tafelsig. She lived two doors down from Michaels in the same street. A year separated the disappearances of Kauther and Shaskia.
Bobbs recalled the dreadful day, saying she was washing clothes while Kauther and a friend were playing in the yard. 'When I came out to look for her, she was gone. I heard they were playing in the park. That is where she apparently went missing.
'What I don't understand is why the police made such a big fuss about the Joshlin disappearance and nothing about our children. It's almost like our children aren't important but Joshlin is,' Bobbs said.
'If there was such a big fuss about Kauther and other missing children, they would have been found.
'You cannot describe how you feel… If I'm sleeping and I hear a child scream, I'm completely awake. I do not want anyone's mother to go through what I am going through.'
'I don't want to die not knowing what happened'
Ursula Keet (72) said her child had been missing for 30 years. Baden disappeared aged 12 on 14 January 1995. At the time of his disappearance, Keet was working a night shift, and she was oblivious of the turmoil surrounding her child's disappearance.
At 10pm that night, she received a chilling call. On the phone was a pastor and close friend: 'The pastor told me Baden wasn't home yet.'
He has never been found. 'My agony has lasted from the day of his disappearance until today. I went through a bitter pain, but I was supported by family and friends during this tough time.'
After 30 years, she still hopes that Baden will be found, despite many people telling her to move on.
'How can a mother forget things, and you don't have your child? I didn't find closure with my child. Sometimes I cannot sleep. I am now under a doctor's care for depression.
'My prayer is that before I close my eyes one day, I will see my child and leave with a calm heart.'
Speaking to Daily Maverick, Keet struggled to find words, and tears rolled down her cheeks. 'My late husband … died with that memory, unaware of where his son was,' she said.
'I don't want to die like my late husband, who did not know what happened to our child, where he is or if he is still alive.' DM