The concerned family of a mentally disabled man, Louis van Rooyen, 62, are hoping for their loved one’s safe return after he went missing in the crowds at Athlone Stadium during the early hours of Sunday morning.
His sister, Wilhemena Smith, says they went to watch the Klopse perform at a packed Athlone Stadium and after making their way through the crowd on their way home, they noticed her brother was nowhere to be seen.
She says: “It is a family tradition to go watch the Klopse every year but the stadium was packed. I have two mentally disabled brothers that I care for so I decided to leave the stadium a bit earlier to avoid the crowd and being gedruk with them but that didn’t help as thousands of mense made their way out.”
“There was only one gate open for the whole stadium to exit, which caused the problem.
“Louis bent to pick up a bottle and I said, ‘Louis, los die bottel’. By the time we got outside on our way to the Manenberg taxis, I said ‘kom Louis’ and that was when I realised he was missing. It happened so quickly.”
Wilhemena says they searched for almost three hours but returned home at 3am without Louis.
Granddaughter Tasneem Abrahams adds: “We have checked the hospitals and the morgues, but we did not find him.”
Louis was last seen wearing black jeans, black hoodie, red T-shirt, red cap and white takkies. He has a speech impediment.
If anyone has spotted him, please contact 071 639 8344, 084 800 4153 or 067 681 3375.