Missing: Where have your children gone, South Africa?

Of the more than 16 000 children who have been reported missing over 18 years, about 4000 have never been found, despite police and family efforts

- Lyse Comins

David Waterboer, 14, was last seen wearing a black T-shirt, black-and-red trousers and navy blue shoes when he left his home to attend an athletics event in Concordia in Northern Cape on 7 February. He has disappeared without a trace and his family is frantic with worry.

Amahle Thabethe was eight years old when she went missing while playing with her friends outside her home in Tsakane, Gauteng, in 2019.

The little girl, who was allegedly lured away by an unknown man, has never been found.

Her mother Nokulunga Nkosi wears a T-shirt with Amahle's face on it every day in the hope that someone will recognise her daughter, who she believes is still alive.

Veronique Adams' minder allegedly kidnapped her in 1989 when she was just 11 months old, leaving her five-year-old sister Melissa to comfort her identical twin Veronisha.

Thirty-five years later, she is still missing.

But Veronisha and her mother Junice, like Amahle and David's families, have not given up hope of finding her one day. The family has widely published photos of Veronique, alongside adult ones of Veronisha, hoping that someone, somewhere will recognise her and they will be reunited.

Prosecutors are making a similar argument in the case of missing Saldanha Bay girl Joslin Smith, whose mother Kelly Smith has been on trial with two men on charges of kidnapping and human trafficking in relation to the six-year-old's disappearance in February last year.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu's written response to questions posed in parliament on 21 February indicated that 188 children went missing in South Africa between 1 October and 31 December last year. Of these, 102 had been found, while 86 were still missing.

Topping the list of provinces where the most children were reported missing were the Western Cape with 56, followed by the Free State with 42, Gauteng (38), KwaZulu-Natal (19), North West (15), Mpumalanga (9), Eastern Cape and Limpopo (2).