Mom’s search for missing boy, 2, ends in pain after his body is found in hospital mortuary

Enkosi Nkolisa, 2, was last seen by a neighbour in the Lloyd Informal Settlement, where the family lives, is believed to have been taken by an unknown man. Picture: Supplied

Enkosi Nkolisa, 2, was last seen by a neighbour in the Lloyd Informal Settlement, where the family lives, is believed to have been taken by an unknown man. Picture: Supplied

Published Dec 23, 2021

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Cape Town - Two days before Christmas, a Crossroads family are struggling to make sense of the death of their 2-year-old son, whose body was discovered at a hospital mortuary on Monday, after he had gone missing on December 16.

Enkosi Nkolisa, was last seen by a neighbour in the Lloyd Informal Settlement, where the family lives, is believed to have been taken by an unknown man.

Police spokesperson Joseph Swartbooi said Nkolisa was reported missing at the Nyanga Police Station on Sunday, at about 8pm.

Swartbooi said the members of Nyanga Family Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual offences (FCS) unit followed up on all available leads, to re-unite the boy with his parents.

On Monday, the investigating officer accompanied the parents to Tygerberg Pathology Services, where they identified their son’s body, Swartbooi said.

“We can confirm that the two-year-old child was involved in a motor vehicle accident on the R300 Highway on Friday, after which the body was transported to the mortuary,” Swartbooi said.

He said Mfuleni police registered a case of culpable homicide for further investigation.

When the Cape Argus visited the family on Wednesday, the distraught mother, Nomakholwa Nkolisa, said she had reported the incident at a police station, at the Lower Crossroads, on Friday. She was told to report the incident at the Nyanga police station.

Ward councillor Nceba Ntshweza visited the distraught mother, Nomakholwa Nkolisa. Picture: Sisonke Mlamla/African News Agency

Nkolisa said that when she went to Nyanga police station, the officers came to the neighbour who was with the child before he went missing.

She said the neighbour told the officers that the child was taken by an unknown man who looked like his father.

“The incident happened at the time when I went to buy a quarter loaf of bread with a friend,” Nkolisa said, as she pleaded for assistance from people who saw the incident to report it to the police.

Ward councillor Nceba Ntshweza said that this was a painful experience, “because losing a child was not good”.

Missing Children SA's national co-ordinator Bianca van Aswegen said: “We definitely have a big problem in the country, regarding children going missing. Not only in The Western Cape, but throughout the whole of South Africa.”

Van Aswegen said parents and communities should be more vigilant, and educate themselves and children on safety measures.

“One of the main problems we find is that people tend to wait before reporting a child or adult as missing. There is no waiting period in reporting someone missing,” she said.

She said people still believe they have to wait 24 hours but that is untrue. The sooner a case is reported, the quicker the police could respond to the case of the missing child or adult.

“The first 24-48 hours is crucial when a child goes missing, so it needs to be reported immediately to the nearest police station and to us at Missing Children SA,” she said.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stop anonymously on 08600 10111 or through the MySAPSApp.

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Cape Argus