Johannesburg - The kidnapped Queens High School Grade 8 pupil who went missing on Monday afternoon has been found alive at the Maponya Mall in Soweto.
The suspects had demanded a R5m ransom for the safe return of 14-year-old Lindokuhle Masuku who was taken outside the school gates while waiting for transport to take him home.
Masuku’s father in a brief interview confirmed his son had been found.
He said the suspects dropped his son near the mall before the teenager sought assistance from security officers at the mall.
Masuku Snr said details were still unclear and he was still on his way to get more details from the police.
Steve Mabona, the spokesperson for the Gauteng Department of Education said the pupil was found at the Maponya Mall in Soweto on Wednesday.
“We can confirm that the learner from Queens High School that was reported kidnapped has been found today at Maponya Mall,’ he said.
Mabona said the department was not yet aware of the circumstances surrounding how the pupil was found.
He said the department would be monitoring the situation to enable the pupil’s return to school
The pupil was dumped near the Maponya Mall by the kidnapping suspects who had demanded a R5m ransom from his parents.
Earlier, Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi had expressed concern at the news of the kidnapped Masuku and Kate Spies, a special needs pupil from Roodepoort’s Lantern High School, who went missing on Tuesday while waiting to be picked up.
“It is really concerning that our learners are targeted at our schools, we really appeal to community members who might assist with necessary information to share the same with the police so that these perpetrators are taken to task,” said Lesufi.
Spies has yet to be found.
IOL