Maureen Arendse has been searching for her two foster children‚ Amber and Cassidy Williams‚ since Sunday afternoon. She is so emotional and exhausted that she can barely speak about her ordeal but has appealed for help.
"If anyone has the children‚ please‚ please come forward‚'' she pleaded on Tuesday.
Amber‚ 13‚ and Cassidy‚ 6‚ disappeared from their Manenberg home just before noon. Arendse‚ their legal guardian for the last seven years‚ had been visiting a family member when she got the news.
Arendse said her daughter approached Manenberg SAPS on Sunday to find out if someone had brought the girls to the police station. On Monday Arendse said she had gone to police who referred her to social workers.
"They asked me to wait for the girls to come home. And they said I should come back in the evening if they failed to turn up‚'' said Arendse. At about 8pm she was able to report the girls missing.
In October TimesLIVE reported that many children had gone missing in Cape Town. This year alone NGOs in the Western Cape have reported that 66 children have been murdered in Cape Town.
Caring for the girls has not been an easy journey for Arendse. In recent months the sisters started acting up at school and the Department of Social Development stepped in to assist. Despite it all she loves the girls and is desperate to find them.
"I think they are still alive‚'' said Arendse.