‘Sister snatched my kids’: Children taken by aunt to ‘teach mom a lesson’
|Published
SAFE: Asiphe Wonxi, 29, with her kids. Picture: Mandilakhe Tshwete
Three children who were reported abducted were taken by their aunt, who said she wanted to teach their mom a lesson.
A traumatised Asiphe Wonxi, 29, from Malema Village, had a horrific day searching for her two young daughters and their two-year-old cousin.
She left her kids at her Philippi shack on Monday while she worked a night shift. When she returned yesterday around 7am, she found her plek empty.
A neighbour told her Zukhanye Wonxi, 11, and Enzo Sokhana, four, and klein Akahlulwa Mpondo, were taken by two unknown men.
“When I got home, the gates were still locked and I shouted for them and they didn’t come out,” says Asiphe.
“I went into the yard but I didn’t have the key to open the burglar gate, I knocked and there was still no response and so I went to check in the hiding place and found the keys.
“When I went inside I found the place empty. All the kids were gone, I called everyone who I could think of, but no one had seen them.”
She tells the Daily Voice a neighbour had told her that there were two men in the hokkie on Monday night.
“They described both men as having been slender built and tall, they were heard calling my daughter’s name,” Asiphe says.
“She opened for them and even said one’s name, but the neighbour said she forgot the name.
“These men apparently went inside my home with alcohol and a bluetooth speaker. The neighbour heard music playing.”
Asiphe says the first person she called was her sister, Noluvuyo Nyathi, 45, who lives in Marcus Garvey.
“She said she had not seen them and she even said to me that she was going to the police station to report them missing,” Asiphe adds.
“Hours later, a detective insisted on going to her house and he later called me to inform me the kids were in fact with my sister,” the relieved mother says.
“When I asked her why she did this to me, she replied that it was to teach me a lesson for leaving my kids alone.”
The two men were Noluvuyo’s son and his friend, who were told to fetch the children.
Asiphe, who works as a security guard, says she started working the night shift only last week.
“Things changed at work and I was put on the night shift. I can’t afford a babysitter but now I am forced to find one or ask my boss for day shifts.
“I am grateful they are home. I imagined the worst. I would like the police to teach my sister a lesson by arresting her for the trauma she put me through.”
When the Daily Voice questioned Noluvuyo, she replied: “I have already given my statement to the police.”
Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi says a case of kidnapping is being investigated with no arrests made.
“No extra charges has been added at this stage as an interdepartmental process started after the recovery of the children,” he adds.
“The case docket will follow the prescribed route where it will be discussed with the senior public prosecutor for a decision, which will then guide the investigating officer on the way forward.”