Mother walks the streets until her feet gave in, looking for missing daughter
According to Fikile, Portia left home over a promised job opportunity in July last year
AN exhausted woman walked into the office of EXPRESS after spending days looking for her daughter in Kempton Park and Tembisa.
Fikile Mkhatshwa realised her feet could not take it anymore and she was running out of funds looking for her daughter at hospitals and local taverns without success. She now turns to the people of Kempton Park to help her locate her 29-year-old daughter, Portia Nxumalo, who left home last year November.
According to Fikile, Portia left home over a promised job opportunity in July last year to live with a girl whom she called Matshediso, also known as Tshedi. She returned to her family home in Braamfisher in October, saying Tshedi was a bad influence.
“A month later a group of children walked with her to take a taxi and we all thought she was going to fetch her clothes and would return but that was the last time we saw her,” said Fikile.
Fikile, who now cares for Portia’s child, said, “I have four boys and she is my only girl. She left all of us and her 10-year-old son last year. She promised to return but she has not done so. I want my daughter to come back home and know that she is loved and we want to reconcile with her.
“As I walked up and down the streets of Kempton Park and Tembisa, some people told me they recognised her from the pictures on my phone. People told me they have seen my Portia around Kempton Park but I am struggling to find her,” said the mother.
Fikile says she knows her daughter is still alive but she heard she was ill.
“She does not respond to most of my messages. I believe she is embarrassed to return home and I want her to know that nobody wants to fight. I want us to talk so she could come back home because her son misses her and her absence is starting to affect him psychologically,” said Fikile.
Fikile wants any information about her daughter’s whereabouts and she will go and talk to her and try to make her see that she is loved and missed at home.
People with information are encouraged to call Fikile on 063 129 8741 or Portia’s brother Mahau Nxumalo on 073 135 9513.
