Gauteng police offered a R50,000 reward to anyone who can provide information that could lead to locating Amahle Thabethe who went missing in April 2019 when she was eight years old.
“There just has to be someone, somewhere who saw her, knows what happened to her after a man took her with him to give him directions.”
These are the heartbreaking words of Amahle Thabethe’s mother Nokulunga Nkosi, 40, who still holds on to the hope that her daughter who disappeared six years ago is still alive.
Amahle was only six-years-old when she disappeared in Tsakane, Brakpan on April 6 2019.
After she went missing the police offered a R50,000 reward but no one has come forward with any information.
Trade union, the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA) said in January the police sent an SMS to Nkosi informing her that her docket was now closed until the police receive new information.
“So many people approach me with empty promises. I have so many regrets. I should never have allowed her to play at the neighbour’s house back then” – Nokulunga Nkosi, Amahle’s mother
The union spoke to Nkosi as part of its awareness campaign against child trafficking during Child Protection Week, which ends this week.
MISA quoted Nkosi as saying: “I can’t begin to tell you how I feel every day when I wake up, every time that I see a learner in Grade 9, the same age as she is. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her.”
She said Amahle was lured to walk with a stranger to give him directions in return for sweets.
She said she would find closure if she knew Amahle was dead. However, until then she pleaded for her return home.
“So many people approach me with empty promises. I have so many regrets. I should never have allowed her to play at the neighbour’s house back then. My advice to parents is to never let your child out of your sight. We are living in a very cruel world.”
Amahle’s grandfather Thomas Nkosi, 77, reportedly said her disappearance affected his health.
“We are a very close family. I am stressed. She was such a blessing in our lives and we just want her back. God is existing and nothing is impossible for him. I pray that God will intervene and bring Amahle back to us,” he said.
MISA’s manager for media and communication department Sonja Carstens said more than half of the child victims reported the involvement of friends and families in their recruitment into trafficking.
“False promises were the most common means of control reported by children (58.9%).
“According to the United Nations child trafficking globally is an underreported crime, but there is a growing number of cases in Southern African countries, especially where children are trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation (47%), forced labour (35%) and other types of exploitation (18%). Traffickers have strong community networks.”
Carstens said Missing Children SA estimated that 77% of missing children were found and 23% remain missing or are found dead.
