Agony and ecstasy for parents of missing boys
● Relieved moms have many questions over boys’ disappearance
While the traumatised parents of three toddlers who miraculously survived more than 24 hours in bushy terrain after disappearing in Motherwell are delighted to be reunited with their children, they are still agonising over what actually happened.
The questions they are asking revolve around how the tiny tots managed to walk 7km from where they were last seen, how they crossed a busy road, and where they slept dressed only in shorts and Tshirts with no proper shelter.
Othandwayo Prince Zenzile, 4, Linamandla “Limpy” Zenzile, 3 – who are related – and their best friend, Nande Nombewu, 3, were playing in the bushes near the hall in Sisulu Street in NU29 before they vanished after last being seen at about midday on Tuesday.
Hundreds of residents joined police, emergency services and search-and-rescue teams into the night on Tuesday and again at first light on Wednesday in a frantic search for the children.
Linamandla was found a few hours before the other two boys at a weigh bridge near the Amanzi Quarry on Wednesday.
Linamandla was found at about 2.25pm and the others at about 7.10pm.
The weigh bridge is situated outside Motherwell in the direction of Despatch.
The boys were all taken to hospital in Uitenhage for medical check-ups.
Uitenhage Provincial Hospital ward operational manager Shereka Eugenia said they were lethargic, tired and very dehydrated when they arrived.
“The two older ones [Othandwayo and Nande] are still very tired but the younger one [Linamandla] seems to be unaware of what happened,” Eugenia said.
“We did not find any other problems except that their blood sugar levels were quite low but they will be discharged once a social worker sees them,” she said.
Speaking at the hospital, the boys’ mothers expressed tremendous relief at their young children being found alive and unharmed.
While Nomakhaya Zenzile, 42, spoke, her son, Linamandla, played happily with a banana, seemingly unaware of the dangers he had faced.
“I was called to identify him as he was apparently walking around the forest,” Zenzile said.
“When he was asked where the others were, he said he had left them where he was [near the quarry] because they were sleeping.
“As police fed him, he apparently called for me, ate and then he slept until the others were found.”
Zenzile said she was confused as to how the children had managed to walk such a long distance as well as cross the busy R335 road.
Nande’s mother, Noluntu Nombewu, 37, said: “These children are tiny, they tire quickly and we often have to carry them on our backs when we walk short distances. “That quarry is too far. “They also did not have a single scratch on their bodies
‘They did not have a single scratch on their bodies but they walked through the dense forest’
Noluntu Nombewu
NANDE’S MOTHER
but they walked through the dense forest.”
Siphokazi Zenzile, 23, the mother of Othandwayo, thanked the community and the police for their efforts, saying they had been a blessing to them in their time of need.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said: “They [the children] are still receiving medical care and once we interview them, then only will we know what happened.
“[They] are very small and appear to be confused.
“We would like to caution their family and relatives not to speculate over their disappearance until we have had a chance to speak to them.”