Khayelitsha mother Marble Mbenyama is accusing Lingelethu police of being incompetent after they allegedly failed to assist her to search for her 34-year-old daughter, Nolukholo, who disappeared in June last year.
The 64-year-old mother of six said Nolukholo left home for work but never returned home. Ms Mbenyama said at first she thought her daughter had visited her boyfriend in Kraaifointein. But after two weeks of not hearing from Nolukholo she started to worry.
Ms Mbenyama said she was not able to reach her by phone so she decided to go to Kraaiforntein, but did not know the boyfriend’s name or address.
She said she showed her daughter’s photo to people in Wallacedene but no one knew her.
She said she created missing person pamphlets and distributed them around the area in the hope that someone might recognised Nolukholo, but her efforts were in vain.
It was then that she decided to report Nolukholo missing at Lingelethu police station.
She said police took her statement and promised to assist her.
She said she was told to come back the following day and a detective who took up the case contacted her daughter’s boyfriend and told him that they needed to interview him about her disappearance.
Ms Mbenyana said that was the last time she saw the detective.
“I just want my child back and that is it. I wanted the police to help me to locate her. I have no idea as to why they refused to help me. I don’t think that I will ever set my foot there again and I don’t want to see them.
“The police have disappointed me and shattered the little confidence I had in them,” she said.
Ms Mbenyama said every time she visited the station to ascertain the status of the case, she was told that the investigating officer was not at the station.
She said she visited the station multiple times and was fed up of being sent from pillar to post with no one willing to assist her. She said police were her last hope. Ms Mbenyama said her health had taken a massive knock since her daughter disappeared.
She said police officers had all the resources to assist her but they have showed her that they do not care about elderly people.
Ms Mbenyama said that she has tried countless times to locate her daughter but all her attempts have failed. She described her daughter as a loving and caring person and she feared for her safety.
Ms Mbenyama said as for now she does not know what to do and she was advised to contact the media with the hope that someone might intervene and help her. “She just started on her new job so I don’t know the offices of her work place. My daughter has three children who are also worried about their mother. I would really hate to die without knowing where my daughter is. I want my daughter back,” she said. Ms Mbenyama made an emotional appeal to the public to assist her in locating her daughter.
Lingelethu police station had not responded to Vukani by the time we went to print but we will publish their response in next week’s edition.
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