Five-year-old Lindokuhle Ntsethe was oblivious to the widespread panic and worry over his disappearance on the first day of school on Wednesday.
At his home in Kennedy informal settlement, the youngster was all smiles and full of mischief as he kept wrestling his mother’s cellphone from her.
“He is normal. He said he missed me and asked where I was, but he doesn’t seem to know exactly what we went through since yesterday [Wednesday] afternoon,” his mother, Olwethu Ntsethe, 26, told TimesLIVE Premium on Thursday.
Her son, a grade R pupil, could not be located after Sydenham Primary School was dismissed early due to the severe weather warnings.
“Things were complicated after the bad weather had led to the children being released early. His brother, who is in grade 3, with whom he was supposed to travel, could not find him,” she said.
“They were supposed to come home with the school transport, but the uncle, who runs it, couldn’t find him when he got there at 1pm,” Ntsethe said.
She then rushed to the school from their Kennedy Road house.
“I got there at 1.30pm, and we couldn’t find him. We searched the nearby roads and assumed he got into a taxi to go home,” Ntsethe said.
She went to three different police stations to check if her child was there.
But it is understood a Burnwood Secondary School pupil allegedly found Lindokuhle walking alone near the school, which is almost 2km away from his school and took him home.
It is not known why Lindokuhle was not taken to a police station.
“They kept him there until this morning because school was closed,” Ntsethe said. The boy was taken back to his school on Thursday.
Ntsethe said she had feared the worst.
“I cannot tell you how I feel right now. I didn’t know what to do last night. I couldn’t bear that we did not know where he was.”
“I am exhausted. Last night I could not put my head to sleep thinking about all the horrible things that we often read about,” said Ntsethe.
She had resigned herself to thinking that her child was no more, but had painfully held on to the hope that she would find his remains.
“I was also told that a child had been handed over at Cato Manor. But that proved to be futile,” she said.
Lindokuhle said throughout the night he had not been frightened by anything.
“We watched TV during the night, but I had nothing to eat the whole night,” said the little boy.
“I am grateful to the teachers and members of the community who have been at my corner since the ordeal. Some had even gone as far as opening WhatsApp groups,” the mother said.
She said many people made contact with her and offered to assist to find him.
She said the child would only return to school on Monday.
“I don’t know what to do to prevent this from happening because I had told him not to leave school before his brother fetched him. There is a scholar transport which they use for R250 a month,” she added.
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