Cape Town - Police and community policing forum members in Nyanga and surrounding areas have launched a search for a nine-year-old girl who disappeared four days ago.
Yamkela Mtini was last seen near her home at No 5 836 Samora Machel informal settlement on Tuesday. Her mother, Nomaseni Mtini, was at work and Yamkela was playing with friends. She was last seen at noon, wearing three-quarter denim jeans, a pink Puma T-shirt and brown sandals.
Police questioned friends and neighbours who saw her just before she disappeared, but this has not brought them any closer to establishing what happened to her.
On Friday morning, the Cape Argus spoke to Mtini as she waited at Nyanga police station to accompany officers on their search.
She said she did not know where to begin looking.
“My daughter only moved to Cape Town from the Eastern Cape last year and she is still unfamiliar with the city. There is no family in the area where she could have gone. We truly don’t know what to think, but my husband and I are suffering immensely.”
Mtini said the only irregularity at their house was that the DStv was disconnected and the card in the decoder was missing. Mtini said Yamkela may have disconnected it accidentally and run away because she was afraid of getting into trouble.
Martin Sandile of Nyanga’s Community Policing Forum said today 30 volunteers had been mobilised from neighbourhood watches to support police in the search.
Dessie Rechner of the Pink Ladies, an organisation that helps to search for missing people, said she had got a photo from police and she was making a flyer.
Yamkela is in Grade 2 at Khanya Primary School in Mitchells Plain. She is 1.1m tall and has black hair.
Nyanga Police asked anyone with information about her whereabouts to call Nyanga police at 021 380 3374, Constable Flekisi at 084 716 1903 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111. Rechner can be reached at 072 214 7439.
Cape Argus