Distressed families in limbo as missing persons crisis grips SA
· Citizen
Every day, distressed families across South Africa flood social media with photographs of missing loved ones, clinging to the hope that one share, one sighting or one phone call will finally bring them home.
From children who disappear on their way to school to adults who vanish without explanation, South Africa’s missing persons crisis continues to devastate families and expose the country’s vulnerability to organised crime, human trafficking, online grooming and violent crime.
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The growing number of disappearances has also intensified concerns about South Africa’s ability to respond swiftly after someone goes missing, during the crucial hours when the chances of locating them are highest.
A review of South African Police Service (Saps) missing persons records, together with information from Missing Children South Africa and ACT Africa, shows that new cases are reported almost daily.
The Saps Missing Persons database contains dozens of active cases involving adults and children from across the country, illustrating the scale of the challenge.
Agonising uncertainty of missing people
While many missing people are eventually found, countless families endure weeks, months and, in some cases, years of agonising uncertainty.
Missing Children South Africa estimates that approximately 77% of missing children are eventually located. Although encouraging, the figure still means that nearly one in four children reported missing are not immediately reunited with their families.
The organisation cautioned that official statistics reveal only part of the picture because many disappearances are never reported.
“We do not currently have statistics, but statistics only give us a general indication of the problem because so many cases go unreported. Each year we see an increase in children going missing as kidnappings and human trafficking escalate in our country,” said criminologist and Missing Children South Africa national co-ordinator, Bianca van Aswegen.
Children increasingly targeted online
Van Aswegen said children of all ages were vulnerable, from newborn babies to teenagers, but social media is one of the biggest dangers.
“Social media is one of the biggest platforms where children are most vulnerable, especially teenagers who are being groomed and lured for various reasons,” she said.
Van Aswegen said that poor supervision and a lack of basic safety precautions also contributed to children disappearing.
“Young children are often left unsupervised to play outside or walk to the shop by themselves. Safety starts at home and we need to educate our children on how to keep themselves safe,” she added.
ACT Africa, another organisation assisting families of missing persons, said it had recorded a noticeable increase in missing persons alerts during 2026, particularly involving children.
ACT Africa co-founder and chief executive Hilary Leong said organised crime, human trafficking, kidnappings and worsening socio-economic conditions were driving the trend.
“We have definitely seen an increase, particularly of children. The factors driving this trend include organised crime networks, extortion syndicates, human trafficking, opportunistic kidnappings, gender-based violence, as well as poverty, unemployment and family instability,” Leong said.
Gauteng remains a hotspot
According to ACT Africa, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape continue to record the highest number of missing persons alerts, although cases are increasingly being reported across all provinces.
The organisation has identified several worrying patterns.
These include kidnappings for ransom, online grooming linked to human trafficking, delayed reporting of disappearances and scams targeting desperate families.
Leong warned that criminal syndicates often exploit the widespread misconception that families must wait 24 hours before reporting someone missing.
“Despite Saps policy allowing immediate reporting, families are still misinformed about a 24-hour waiting period. Criminal networks capitalise on this delay to relocate victims across provinces or even across international borders,” she said.
ACT Africa also warned families to be cautious after posting missing person notices online.
“Scammers frequently contact families demanding money while falsely claiming to have information about the missing person or claiming to be holding the victim,” Leong said.
She encouraged families to report disappearances to Saps immediately before approaching organisations specialising in missing persons, which can help circulate alerts while reducing the risk of scammers directly targeting relatives.
No waiting period
Both organisations stressed that one of the biggest obstacles to successful recoveries remains delayed reporting.
Van Aswegen said many South Africans still incorrectly believe they must wait a full day before opening a missing person case.
“There is no waiting period in reporting a child or an adult as missing,” she said.
“The quicker the case gets reported, the quicker action can be taken. It becomes extremely difficult when cases are only reported days, months or even years later.”
Leong said the first 12 to 24 hours after a disappearance represented the “golden window” during which technology such as CCTV footage, cellphone tracking and artificial intelligence could dramatically improve the chances of locating missing people.
Calls for stronger policing
While South Africa already has strong legislation dealing with missing persons, both organisations believe implementation remains the greatest challenge.
Van Aswegen said parents, guardians and communities had a critical role to play in preventing disappearances through education, supervision and immediately reporting suspicious behaviour.
She also suggested South Africa should consider tighter regulation of children’s access to social media, similar to measures being introduced in other countries.
ACT Africa called for greater investment in frontline policing, including more detectives, better-equipped police stations, reliable vehicles, upgraded investigative technology and continuous training for officers handling missing persons cases.
The organisation also urged authorities to root out corruption within the police service and restore public confidence.
“A major challenge is that many people have lost faith in law enforcement and the justice system. Gaps created through slow investigations and inadequate responses mean justice often does not prevail, and victims are ultimately failed,” Leong added.
Vanished without a trace
An example of this is the case of Thabiso Mofokeng, who mysteriously disappeared without a trace more than eight years ago.
The family of Mofokeng continues to search for answers, hoping that one day they will discover what happened to the father of one.
Mofokeng, an electrician from Saulsville, west of Pretoria, vanished in April 2018 under circumstances that have baffled his family and friends.
He would have celebrated his 45th birthday in April this year.
The only thing that disappeared with him was his green Opel Astra, and neither Mofokeng nor the vehicle has ever been found.
According to his close friend, Abbey Molefe, there was nothing unusual about the evening before he vanished.
He had spent the night socialising at a local spot, where they had been drinking with friends, including one of Mofokeng’s neighbours and the neighbour’s girlfriend.
As the evening drew to a close, the couple drove behind Mofokeng to ensure he arrived home safely.
“They said they followed him all the way home. They watched him open the gate, drive into the yard and park his car before he waved goodbye,” Molefe recalled.
It would however be the last confirmed sighting of Mofokeng.
A few hours later, while they were at home, the couple heard what they believed was Mofokeng’s vehicle starting up and driving away but no one suspected anything was wrong.
When family and friends could no longer reach him in the days that followed, concern quickly turned to panic.
The disappearance was reported to the Atteridgeville police station, sparking a missing persons investigation but days became weeks, which turned into months and now years.
Yet there has never been a confirmed sighting of Mofokeng, nor has his green Opel Astra ever been recovered.
Molefe said he last saw Mofokeng a week before he disappeared and that all he knows was what was relayed to him by the neighbouring coupe he was with that fateful night.
“What troubles them the most is that he made it home safely. He parked his car, waved goodbye and then simply disappeared. It’s as if he vanished from the face of the earth,” he said.
Hope fading away
Molefe added that at the time of his disappearance, Mofokeng was working on a major Gauteng public hospital contract as an electrician and was excited about the opportunity.
The case remains one of many long-term missing persons investigations in South Africa where families continue to live in painful uncertainty.
As each year passes, hope becomes harder to hold onto, but Mofokeng’s family says they have not given up.
They continue to appeal to anyone who may have information about his disappearance or the whereabouts of his green Opel Astra to come forward and assist police.
For those who love him, the unanswered questions have become their daily reality.
Eight years after he disappeared, they are still waiting for the phone call that could finally bring them the truth.