The return of a KwaZulu-Natal mother and her children‚ who were missing for a month‚ ended in tragedy when her five-year-old daughter died after being struck by a taxi.
The child was knocked over when she ran into oncoming traffic while getting off a taxi with her mother and brother upon returning to Amandawe on Tuesday.
Thandeka Msomi‚ her daughter Minenhle and two-year-old son Lindani were reported missing when she failed to meet a man she had been chatting to via social media in Johannesburg on September 1. KwaZulu-Natal police said Msomi and her children had last been seen walking along the Mpambanyoni River bridge towards Scottburgh on the KZN south coast.
"It is believed that she had been chatting with someone in Johannesburg on social media and had arranged to meet him at the Park railway station‚ however‚ she never arrived‚" Captain Nqobile Gwala said last week.
On Thursday‚ Gwala said the mother had safely returned home on Tuesday after going to Palm Ridge in Johannesburg to visit a family member.
"It is alleged that the cellphone she had‚ was stolen at the bus rank in Durban and [she] was therefore unable to notify anyone of her travel plans‚" she said.
"While getting off the taxi at Amandawe‚ her five-year-old child ran into oncoming traffic and was knocked down. She later succumbed to her injuries."
A culpable homicide docket has been opened for investigation.
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