Mom hopes for teen's safe return after failing to come back from toilet
Mihlali has been missing for a week
The mother of 14-year-old Mihlali Mafilika, who went missing after she went to a toilet at night outside her home, will be praying for her safe return as most pupils head back to the classrooms this week.
Mihlali, from Khayelitshas Nkanini section outside Cape Town, went missing a week ago.
Mihlali’s mother, Nokwandisa Salman, 44, said it has been a week of sleepless nights since her daughter vanished as she worries about her safety.
“It was about 8pm when Mihlali went to the outside toilet. This is an informal settlement so the toilets are lined in the streets. We have a toilet right behind our shack. When she did not return after five minutes, I decided to go and look for her. She was nowhere to be found, and that day it was raining, so I tried to trace her footsteps, but I failed,” Salman said.
Salman said her heart sinks every time she hears about a teenager who has been murdered as she thinks about her second-born child. In June, 17year-old Amahle Quku from Philipi township was brutally murdered.
She was found with her clothes ripped off and stones next to her body. Last week, another young woman, Nomvuzo Atoli, 22, was found murdered about 30km from her home. Her body was thrown in a rubbish bin.
“I can’t even eat because you know in Cape Town there are always stories of missing children and we seldom hear about their safe return. For instance, here in Khayelitsha, Lunamandla Sithonga, 13, went missing while on her way to school. She had not been found till this day.
“How can I be at peace not knowing if I will ever see my child again? I always walk around with the hope of bumping into her,” she said.
Salman said her daughter is a quiet person and she did not have friends.
“She spent most of her time watching TV or sleeping. She was looking forward to going back to school as she said it was boring to stay at home for the whole day,” she said.
Salman said Mihlali was wearing black tights, a black and white top with a blue and red jacket when she went missing. The family went to open a case of a missing person at Harare police station, but said they were not given a case number.
‘‘ How can I be at peace not knowing if I will ever see my child again