Salima Nhlengethwa (8), the Matsafeni boy who was reported missing more than two weeks ago, has still not been found. This despite the fact that the man who is believed to have kidnapped him was caught on closed-circuit camera and a social-media campaign urging community members to be on the lookout for him and the boy was launched.
Ms Mimita Nhlengethwa, Salima’s mother, said he was last seen on the afternoon of July 18 when he left home to buy airtime at the Zahara shop. The latter is situated about 20 metres from the Nhlengethwa home, which is located between the Mbombela Stadium and the N4. The boy did not return that evening and was reported missing the next morning.
On Monday, Nelspruit Post paid a visit to Mataffin to locate the Zahara shop from where he had allegedly disappeared. According to a man who did not want to be identified, he was working in the shop on the day that Salima was last seen. Apart from briefly noticing the boy among a sea of faces that crowded the store’s gated entrance, he says that he didn’t see the boy again. “I don’t know where he came from and I don’t know where he went.”
Community members, who also did not want to be identified, said that Salima had wandered to the Halls Shell garage’s convenience store and disappeared there.
Sgt Nicholas Khoza, the police officer conducting the investigation, confirmed that CCTV cameras captured footage of the boy and an unknown man at the Halls Shell garage. The boy stood in front of the garage’s convenience store on his own and was escorted inside by the unknown man, dressed in jeans and a jacket. He proceeded to buy the boy something resembling a sweet before they left the store together. The boy’s family said they had not seen the man before.
Community members are requested to contact Khoza on 079-317-1147 if they are able to identify him from the picture.
Nelspruit Post visited the Nhlengethwa family’s home on Monday. They are still hopeful and pray for his safe return. Ms Rose Mhlongo, Salima’s grandmother, addressed the paper. “We have nothing to say and nothing to ask. We just want our child back home,” she said. Mimita nodded in agreement.
