A Gauteng mother claims police delays allowed her child’s father to leave South Africa without consent, triggering a kidnapping investigation.
Another South African has accused the police of inaction after she reported her child’s father of kidnapping and taking their child to Congo without her permission.
A video has gone viral on social media of a Gauteng mother who claimed that the South African Police Service (Saps) failed to open a parental abduction case for her five-year-old daughter.
In the video, the mother said her daughter lives with her full-time, but she and the girl’s father have an arrangement for the daughter to stay with him during school holidays.
Battle to open kidnapping case after daughter taken to Congo
The mother said on 17 December 2025, the father fetched the child, and she would communicate with her daughter through video calls.
She said that during this time, she spoke with the dad and asked when he would return the child, as schools reopen on Wednesday, 14 January, and he allegedly said he’d return her in time for the reopening.
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“On the fifth (January), he texts me, saying that they went home. I’m like, ‘Home where?’ He’s like, ‘In Congo.’ In Congo, how?” the mother said.
She added that despite multiple attempts to confirm the child’s whereabouts with his family, she found it hard to believe.
The mother said she went to the Ivory Park Police Station on the same day to open a case of parental abduction, but she was reportedly told she needed to consult with the Children’s Court.
Ongoing efforts
She said the Children’s Court advised her to contact a family advocate, while her brother contacted the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) in Pretoria, which confirmed the need to open a case.
The mother said that despite this confirmation, the police station still did not open the case, and she was directed to social workers at the Department of Social Development for further assistance.
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She added that the social workers also confirmed the need for a police case to be open, but allegedly, the officers still required proof.
The parent said on 6 January that she found out that the father had moved out, and his neighbours informed her that he had sold his belongings on Facebook Marketplace, complicating the situation further.
She said that despite repeated visits and efforts, the Ivory Park Police Station still had not opened a case by January.
Father reportedly moving to Europe with daughter
She added that she also learned that the father was planning on moving to Europe with the child, adding urgency to her case.
“I’m hoping this video gets to the correct people so that they can assist me because the Ivory Park Police Station is currently failing me,” the mother pleaded.
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The provincial management of the Saps in Gauteng issued a statement confirming that the mother reported the matter at the police station and the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit, which subsequently registered an enquiry.
“The commander of the FCS unit personally interviewed the complainant on the same day, and it was established that the parents have an agreement which has been in effect for the past three years,” Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi said.
“The father has, during school holidays, taken the child and then returned her on the agreed date.”
Police spoke to father over the phone
Nevhuhulwi said the FCS also spoke to the father telephonically, and he allegedly told law enforcement that he would bring the child home before school opened.
The colonel said this is why an enquiry was registered.
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On 8 January, the mother went back to the police station and reported that she had received information that the father had travelled with the daughter to Congo.
“The enquiry was then changed into a case of kidnapping. FCS is in liaison with Interpol for further investigations and to trace both the father and daughter,” Nevhuhulwi said.
Nevhuhulwi claimed the mother stayed informed of any developments in the case.
