Local woman home safe

Leaving no stone unturned, a father vowed not to rest until he finds his 35-year-old daughter who went missing last Thursday.

His persistence yielded results, but what he had discovered upon her safe return three days later, can only be described as disturbing.  Sizakele Hlabane had endured three days of horror when she was abducted and tied up along with five others in a deserted farmhouse in the Cairn area.

Hlabane’s father, Matthews, a veteran environmental activist of eMalahleni, shared his daughter’s ordeal. Sizakele was meant to leave Mbombela and arrive in eMalahleni last Thursday afternoon.

He said an acquaintance she had met on the day had suggested they try hitch-hiking instead of waiting for the taxi to leave.  Matthews said the pair were standing near Halls Gateway on the N4 at around 11:00 when a high-end silver-grey vehicle pulled over and offered the two a ride.

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“Sizakele said there were three well-dressed men in the vehicle. They looked well-off and spoke pure siSwati. We have good reason to believe they are from the Lowveld,” said Matthews.

“They were on the N4 and the driver took the Cairn turn-off, which is a dirt road. They drove for a while until they got to a secluded area where they robbed them of all their wallets, bank cards and cellphones.”

He said they continued to drive until they arrived at the deserted farmhouse.  According to her, they locked her and her acquaintance in the house and soon after brought in four more hostages.

“They kept all of them there, tied up. The three robbers went to draw money using their bank cards,” said Matthews.  The men gave the hostages water and bread and allegedly did not physically harm anyone, but were verbally aggressive.

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“I didn’t know where she was. I drove around to every single corner of Mbombela looking for her,” he said. He eventually ended up in the area where they were held following a tip-off from a woman from Pienaar who had responded to his social media posts about his missing daughter. She claimed that she had also been abducted and robbed at this location. The details surrounding previous similar incidents could not be confirmed.

Around 23:30 on Saturday, after somehow making their escape, the six victims ran to Matthews’ vehicle and he took them to safety. “I was so relieved and overjoyed that my daughter was among them.”

The eMalahleni police confirmed that a case has been opened and is being investigated. A provincial police spokesperson, Brig Selvy Mohlala, said the police would respond at a later date.

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