A slab of chocolate and a can of cold drink was what Sibongile asked her mother Nokuthula Nkosi to bring home when she knocked off the following morning.
Nkosi, a nurse at Helen Joseph Hospital, says those were the last words she heard from her 13-year-old daughter, who has not been heard of or seen since July 18.
Nkosi, from Mofolo Village, Soweto, said on Monday her daughter would usually accompany her to catch a taxi just outside her gate, but on that Saturday she insisted Sibongile stay behind.
“I asked her not to come with me. I don’t know why,” the distraught mother-of-three said.
Nkosi remembers seeing a man wearing a black hat and jacket sitting opposite her home.
“He was looking towards my house. I asked myself what was this man staring at, but then I took a taxi to work,” she said.
When Nkosi received a call from her son in the evening asking about Sibongile’s whereabouts, she became worried.
“Her phone was off… I came home immediately. We visited friends and neighbours, asking about her whereabouts, but she was nowhere to be found.”
Nkosi said that the day after Sibongile went missing, they heard she had asked a friend to accompany her to nearby shops to buy airtime.
“I was told that the girls went separate ways as they were rushing back home from the shops, but they don’t know what happened to Sibongile.
“I still don’t know what happened to her. I am sick and attending counselling. I am suffering from depression,” she said, breaking into tears.
Nkosi pleaded with readers to help find Sibongile.
Police spokesman Captain Mpande Khoza said they were still investigating the case.
“We received information saying she was seen with men in Kempton Park, but we could not find her when we arrived at the place,” Khoza said.
Meanwhile, Zodwa Nkosi, mother of Mbali, 16, from Dube, Soweto, who has been missing since July 20, has been discharged from hospital. The two families are not related.
The Star reported last week that Nkosi had been admitted to Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital for depression.
“I need to be strong for myself, my family and Mbali. I thought I was well all along but I guess her disappearance was difficult to deal with,” she said.
Mbali had gone to buy meat at the nearby Shoprite centre in Dube but never returned home.
Her mother was the last person to hear her voice, after she left a phone message later on the day she disappeared.
Mbali said “Mama”, then the phone was cut off, and she has not been heard of or seen since. - The Star