Family's desperate plea after daughter goes missing from church

Mxolisi Ngwane and Thabisile Dlamini had a rough start to the new year after their three-year-old daughter‚ Siphesihle‚ went missing on New Year’s Eve during an early morning church service.

Her father told TimesLIVE that it had been a tough three weeks for the KwaZulu-Natal family‚ and they have hoped and prayed for little Siphesihle’s return. But she is still missing.

"Her mother had gone to church with her. They were visiting the church in Amandawe for the very first time after being invited by a neighbour‚” said Mxolisi.

“The visitors were called to the front to be welcomed and the mother left Siphesihle sitting on the chair‚ holding her handbag. When she returned‚ the child was gone and she asked the lady who had invited her where the child was but she was nowhere to be found.”

Thabisile told TimesLIVE she was shocked when she returned to an empty seat.

“My handbag was on the floor when I returned and I immediately panicked because Siphesihle is the kind of child who would never even go to the toilet without telling me‚” the soft-spoken women said.

A search of the church premises was conducted with congregants being asked whether they had seen the child.

“One child said her older sisters had left the church with Siphesihle‚” Mxolisi said.

“I had never seen that child before and she told me this as we stood at the door of the church with other church members‚” Thabisile said.

Thabisile‚ the woman who had invited her to the church‚ and another church member headed to the child’s home‚ looking for Siphesihle.

“The siblings [aged 18 and 19] said they bought Siphesihle chips and then told her to go back [to the church]‚” said Mxolisi.

Thabisile said the two young women would not even specify which shop they gone to or the route they had used.

“I went to all the shops along the routes‚ asking people if they had seen my child. I saw some boys who confirmed that they had seen the child walking with two girls. They described her clothing and it matched‚” she said.

“These chips were bought quite a distance from the church and there are many in-roads leading back to the church. She is just three. I don’t understand why they did this‚” Mxolisi said.

That evening‚ the search for the young girl continued‚ with the police canine unit also joining the search. It yielded no results.

“A few days later‚ the police went back to the girl’s house with me‚” said Thabisile.

She had no idea why it had taken police that long to follow the lead‚ she told TimesLIVE.

“They denied everything they said before and even their 13-year-old sister who said she saw them leaving with the child denied she had ever said this. She denied ever speaking to me‚” Thabisile said.

The siblings were not charged.

A police officer‚ however‚ gave a different version into how little Siphesihle went missing.

“[Siphesihle] attended a church service. She was playing with other children‚ however‚ when her mother looked for her at about 09:00‚ the little girl was missing. An extensive search by police and community members proved fruitless‚” read a statement from Colonel Thembeka Mbhele.

“She was allegedly last seen in the vicinity of a tavern in Slangeni Ward‚ Amandawe‚” Mbhele said.

While she was not the officer in charge of the case‚ she indicated that the investigating officer in the case knew nothing about the three sisters who were apparently the last people to be seen with the little girl.

“They told us nothing about that‚” Mbhele said‚ denying that the detectives had ever even gone to interview any suspects except the child’s father.

But Thabisile maintains that her version is what happened.

When TimesLIVE scrutinised the police statement issued in regards to Siphesihle’s disappearance‚ it found that the police had issued two cellphone numbers which they said belonged to detectives from the Umzinto Family Violence‚ Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit.

The cellphone numbers however‚ were those of the distraught parents‚ Thabisile and Mxolisi.

Thabisile said she failed to understand why the police had done this.

Thabisile said her relationship with the church and the woman who had invited her had since gone sour.

“The congregants are no longer speaking to me. They haven’t even offered to come to my home for prayers. I haven’t even received a phone call from them and now‚ they don’t even greet me‚” she said.

A few days ago‚ she said she saw the church’s branded vehicle driving past her house. It later stopped at a shop close to her house. When she later went to the shop‚ the owner told her the congregants had left R200 for him to give to her.

“They said the money is for candles‚” she said‚ explaining that candles were usually bought for a family that is in mourning.

“I didn’t take the money‚” Thabisile said.

Mxolisi‚ on the other hand‚ hopes that people will not stop talking about his daughter and that way‚ her case will never go ‘cold’.

“I need help to keep looking for her. We are putting out posts on Facebook and we also have a private investigator looking for her‚” said Mxolisi.

A look through his Facebook wall shows the anguish he has faced over the last few days. Numerous pictures of the little girl have been posted with messages of hope that she will be found alive.

“I believe she is alive and is simply being kept somewhere‚” he told TimesLIVE. “No one can know the pain we are in except if you have been in our shoes.”