‘Stop speculating,’ says family of missing eight-year-old Anovuyo Oncke
The devastated mother of the missing eight-year-old girl from Lotus River in Cape Town has asked for people to stop speculating and rather assist in searching for her daughter.
Speaking to IOL on Wednesday morning, Samantha Oncke, 25, from Riemvasmaak informal settlement in Phumlani Village, was in tears as the search for her daughter entered the fourth day.
“I am broken. I am hurting from the inside. All over. I just want to know that she is safe. I do not know where she is, what she is eating. I saw her last on Saturday morning,” she cried.
The Grade 1 learner from Perivale Primary was last seen at about 7am on Saturday, September 6, wearing black pants and a pink pajama top.
Her mother said the family is not coping as more days pass by.
“My mind is racing. I keep on thinking she is going to come running inside shouting: ‘mommy, mommy’. People need to stop speculating. I did not sell my child. I do not know who took her. Why would I sell my child? She is my firstborn. I have been raising her for eight years now. She is my child,” Once told IOL.
By Wednesday morning, Oncke and Anovuyo’s father, Luvuyo Mantile, had been searching the field alone since, with no one in sight, not even the police.
Community worker, Beryl Williams, who has been supporting the family and assisting in searches since Sunday, told IOL she was disgusted at how people were speculating and sharing fake details.
“People need to stop this speculation. This is a mother who has feelings. She is devastated as is. We do not know where Anovuyo is, but we continue to search, hoping to find her,” Williams said.
Residents, police, and all community stakeholders have joined to search for the missing girl, and door-to-door searches were conducted in the informal settlement on Tuesday, and by the evening, a search was also being conducted in a nearby informal settlement – Jim se Bos.
“Police have been following up on all leads. Today, we have Anovuyo’s school teacher also joining the search parties, and her little friends are completely heartbroken as they cannot stop crying,” Williams told IOL.
The search continues.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL