Johannesburg -
Gustav Sands’s* face lights up when he talks about daughter Lily,* 7.
His apartment is plastered with pictures of her since the day she was born.
But those pictures are the only memories he has of her since she and her mother disappeared nine months ago.
It is incidents like this that Home Affairs hopes to prevent with a new law. From Monday, all children will need an unabridged birth certificate as well as a passport and the consent of both parents to travel.
In October last year, Sands’s daughter and the mother of his child, a Congolese refugee, disappeared without trace.
Sands has hired private investigators and spent weeks at police stations seeking help. And while Lily may be with her biological mother, Sands is at his wits’ end.
The woman has a warrant of arrest as well as a case of child neglect issued against her.
Sands opened the case against his former partner in June 2014 after he was informed by his daughter’s school that Lily had been “neglected” at home. Lily had lived with her mother all her life and rarely saw her father.
He was allowed one visit every six months, but that changed in 2012 when the mother forbade him from seeing his daughter entirely.
It was only in June that Sands discovered his child had been neglected after receiving a worrying call from Lily’s school.
“They told me to come in urgently as there had been a big problem,” he said.
“I went to the school. It was horrific. Lily came to school with dirty clothes and had bad hygiene.
“She was put into a feeding scheme as she clearly wasn’t properly fed at home.
“They said she drank water out of the toilet! I couldn’t believe it. Each month I gave her mother money to care for her, so I could not understand why this happened.”
He said he had no option but to then open a case of child neglect against the mother.
“That was the last straw. I gathered all the necessary documentation and went to the police station to report her.
“Soon after the child protection unit had collected my daughter, they took her straight to a doctor to check if she had been sexually molested. Fortunately not.
“But the doctor said her hygiene standard was so bad I could go to court and should be able to get full custody.”
Lily was then taken to a safe house by child welfare, who insisted she remain there.
”The next day I specifically warned the social worker about the dangers of being with her mother.”
But regardless, Lily was released to her mother a few weeks later. “The social worker, without assessment, signed off and allowed the mother to take Lily back. I was flabbergasted.”
In October, Lily was reported missing after she failed to attend school for a week. That is when Sands became increasingly concerned that the mother had disappeared with his daughter.
He opened a missing child case at a police station in Joburg and hired a private investigator to assist him in locating the child.
But with no luck. Neither the investigator nor police have not been able to trace her.
The mother’s cellphone number had been disconnected and her bank account had only R50 left.
“I tried getting help but nobody helped me. I even had my daughter’s picture published in a newspaper and on TV, but with no luck.”
Sands also contacted the Departments of Community Safety and Social Development asking why his daughter had been released into the mother’s care knowing she had been convicted of child neglect.
“I made several calls and went to many meetings, but nobody could provide me with any answers as to where my daughter is and why she was handed over to her mother without any assessment.
“When I contacted child welfare, all they could say is that their social workers are very professional.”
Sondak adds he is frantic. I’m not doing well. I can’t do my job properly. I’m struggling and I have nightmares.
Lily’s mother almost certainly doesn’t have any money.
“My daughter had the chance to have a good life, to get a good education. But under her mother’s care, she could well be sitting under a tree and collecting bananas in the DRC - that is if she’s even alive.
“I don’t want her to become pregnant at a young age. I’m worried something bad will happen.
“Lily’s mother has three children from three different fathers.”
Sands hopes his daughter may still be in the country. “I fear the worst…”
Thebe Mohatle, spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Social Development, said they would investigate the matter.
* Not their real names
Saturday Star