A Mfabantfu mother is living through every parent’s worst fear after her two teenage daughters disappeared moments after stepping outside their family home to fetch clothes from the washing line.
Simphiwe Mngometulu said her daughters, Setsabile Gina and Anifa Khumbane, both 16, went outside at around 7pm on Monday while the family was watching the popular SABC drama Skeem Saam. The sisters have not been seen since, prompting a search involving the family, community police and the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS).
Khumbane is doing Form II at Lobamba National High, while Gina attends Hollyland Private School.
Mngometulu said the girls had only stepped outside to collect washed laundry hanging on the washing line, but did not return even after about 30 minutes. She said she first sent one of her children to call them, but the child returned without finding the sisters. Concerned, she went outside herself to search for them and discovered a torch and some of their clothes scattered nearby.
“I went further down and started asking community members for assistance,” she said, adding that she first alerted a local community police member before contacting the police and informing a journalist from the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS).
Mngometulu said the recent discovery of women found dead in a water canal at Mfabantfu had made her fears anxious as a parent.
She said the disappearance had left the family desperate for answers, adding that her greatest wish was for her daughters to return home safely.
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“I do not know where they are or whether they are safe. My only prayer is for their safe return,” she said.
The disappearance has heightened concern in Mfabantfu, a community still recovering from the shock of the recent discovery of four women’s bodies in a water canal.
The victims, whose bodies were recovered by the police last week, were found in a case that led to the arrest of a pastor who has since been charged with rape and murder. The incident has left residents on edge, with renewed fears around the safety of women and children in the area.
Acting Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Inspector Mazwi Ndzimandze said the police had not received a formal missing persons report at the time of compiling the story.
However, Ndzimandze confirmed that officers of the law had visited the family homestead to verify the information and establish the circumstances surrounding the disappearance.
The search for the two teenagers was continuing as the family and community members appealed for any information that could help locate them.
