The Star Late Edition

‘Tell us where she is’

Vanished daughter: mom wants the truth

- TEBOGO MONAMA tebogo.monama@inl.co.za

AMOTHER believes that a suspected cash-in-transit heist kingpin is responsibl­e for the disappeara­nce of her daughter.

Speaking of her pain, ahead of the first anniversar­y of Linda Matati’s disappeara­nce, a distraught Gloria Sibuye said she still hopes for the safe return of her daughter.

Each time she goes to the high court in Joburg, when her daughter’s suspected killer and alleged cash-intransit heist kingpin Thabo Happy Mosia appears to answer charges relating to her kidnapping and murder, she prays he will tell her what happened to her then 24-year-old child.

Despite Mosia being charged with murder, Sibuye still believes her daughter is alive.

Mosia was once one of the most wanted men in Gauteng for his involvemen­t in heists and was in hiding until he was nabbed five months after Matati went missing from a party they had both attended. He allegedly offered Matati, who worked for SBV, a lift from the party in hopes of getting inside informatio­n on cash-in-transit car movements, Sibuye believes.

In 2011, Mosia was arrested in Eldorado Park in connection with four cash-in transit heists that occurred in March 2005 in Bedfordvie­w, February 2006 in Bedfordvie­w, June 2006 in Mothutlung and August 2006 in Tsakane. At the time, the police said he was also allegedly linked to possession of property stolen in Mondeor, armed robbery in Lenasia, as well as possession of car-breaking implements.

The arrest made him the last of the 50 most-wanted suspects that the Hawks were tracking who were still on the run.

A month before his arrest, the Asset Forfeiture Unit seized Mosia’s assets, including two houses, one of which was valued at R1.2 million at Liefde en Vrede, south of Joburg. He had also bought his mother – a social grant recipient – a house worth R120 000 for cash.

It is unclear what happened to the case concerning the heists and National Prosecutin­g Authority spokespers­on Phindi Mjonondwan­a said: “When we looked into his criminal history, we realised that cases opened against him just disappeare­d. He was arrested and nothing ever happened, and so far we have been able to link him to two cases of cash-in-transit heists in Germiston and Johannesbu­rg.”

Matati’s kidnapping and murder case was heard in the high court in Joburg on Friday, and again, Sibuye, who travels six hours from

 ?? PICTURE: SIMPHIWE MBOKAZI ?? WAITING: Gloria Sibuye, left, whose daughter went missing in October 2016, and her sister Boniwe Khumalo at their mother’s home in Lenasia.
PICTURE: SIMPHIWE MBOKAZI WAITING: Gloria Sibuye, left, whose daughter went missing in October 2016, and her sister Boniwe Khumalo at their mother’s home in Lenasia.

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