It was back to school for a grade R Sydenham Primary School pupil, Lindokuhle Ntsethe, whose disappearance caused widespread panic last week.
Ntsethe, 5, didn’t board his scheduled taxi to his home in Kennedy Road informal settlement when scholars returned to school on Wednesday.
His mother Olwethu was frantic and reported him missing. News of his disappearance went viral, but the boy was returned to school on Thursday morning.
He said he had been taken home by a woman near Burnwood Secondary School, about 2km from his own school, and he didn’t have contact details for his mom on him.
School principal Rishi Hiraman said Ntsethe, who lives in the Kennedy Road informal settlement, was all upbeat and ready to begin his schooling on Monday.
His class teacher, who spoke to TimesLIVE Premium, said they had decided to allow him a two-day break after his ordeal.
A playful Ntsethe was seen with a tiny black and white backpack slung on his shoulders while he played with his classmates.
Hiraman warned parents to take particular care to ensure their children arrive and leave the schools safely.
“Parents need to come on board, we need to be mindful of how their kids get to school. We should not take things for granted when it comes to little ones. Some of us take time off so that schooling needs to be a smooth transaction, especially if some of the kids are new to the schooling and had been at home,” said Hiraman.
He said this case was not new at the school and not unique to Sydenham. He said on many occasions he had returned to school to transport some children home after they had been stranded by their transport.
We find that sometimes the drivers make their own arrangement without communicating with their parents and guardians and this complicates things.
— Sydenham Primary School principal Rishi Hiraman
Owing to the schools popularity, they had found that a network of scholar patrol drivers had mushroomed. These service their schools and other neighbouring schools.
“We find that sometimes the drivers make their own arrangement without communicating with their parents and guardians and this complicates things,” said Hiraman.
in Ntsethe’s case, Hiraman said he had made separate efforts to locate his whereabouts which included alerting other principals from the schools in the area.
“Sometimes there is a breakdown in information. To my knowledge he had up and left with a friend,” said Hiraman.
When Ntsethe was dropped off from school on Monday afternoon he navigated a maze of tin roof shacks to find his uncle Xolile Shangase waiting for his safe return.
“I am happy that my nephew has returned. We could not put our head to sleep the day he disappeared. But we were very lucky that he was unharmed,” said Shangase.
He said last night Lindokuhle had showed no signs of being unwilling to go to school after the incident.
“He was keen and there were no tears or tantrums in the morning,” said Shangase.
A shy Ntsethe said he had “enjoyed” his day.
When asked to reveal what was in his schoolbag, he fished out a pocket-sized notebook. In it were contact details of his parents.
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