Cape Town - Missing persons organisations believe a syndicate may be behind the kidnappings of two young children that are yet to be solved.
On April 30 last year, Kai-sha Meniers was taken by an unknown woman who had befriended the infant’s mother, Francis Meniers. The woman had pretended to be pregnant and apparently offered to purchase items for the baby.
A few months later, on December 5 last year, 6-month-old Ivakele Yeko was taken by a woman who had befriended his nanny in Somerset West. The woman claimed she loved children and offered to buy the infant food.
The woman disappeared with Ivakele, leaving the nanny with his 7-year-old sibling.
Police have confirmed that in both cases there have been no successes or leads. In addition, there have been no ransom demands for the safe return of the children.
Last week, the latest crime statistics for the period October to December 2022 revealed that 274 cases of kidnapping had been reported in the Western Cape, representing an increase of 40 cases and a 17.1% surge in these crimes.
A total of 15 cases of kidnapping for ransom were reported and observed. There was one for human trafficking and three for extortion.
Captain Nowonga Sukwana of the provincial SAPS said an identikit had been created of the woman believed to be little Ivakele’s kidnapper. It is hoped the release of the identikit will lead to an arrest.
“Police are appealing to anyone with information that could assist with the safe return of the baby and the arrest of the woman to contact the investigating officer Detective Sergeant Asanda Hlana on 082 301 8910, call the Crime Stop number on 08600 10111, or go your nearest police station.”
At the time of Kai-isha’s disappearance, video footage of the kidnapper was shared with the media.
In the 28-second-long video, the woman is seen walking slowly towards Lavis Drive while the baby’s mother was in a nearby shop purchasing groceries.
She is then seen walking among shoppers and moving in the direction of the parking lot.
https://www.saps.gov.za/crimestop/missing/detail.php?bid=11137Founder and director of Western Cape Missing Persons Candice van der Rheede said in both cases no ransom demands had been made.
“It is the same scenario. It is sounding like the same syndicate to me. They hang around malls or centres where people frequent, preying on those who are walking with babies. They then want to help the people by supposedly helping the people.”
She said in both cases there were older siblings who were left behind.
“In the (Ivakele) case, I suspect the nanny was being watched. I am suspecting this could be the same people. People need to be very careful about who they leave their children with, and they should not think it cannot happen to them.
“We issue so many warnings to the public, and we want to again say that you cannot trust anyone, regardless of whether the person is someone you know or do not know. With these cases, there is no ransom. These incidents are very sad. We will never stop looking.”
According to the latest report from the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, in the US a total of 337 infants were abducted between 1964 and 2022.
Lizette Lancaster, the crime hub manager for justice and violence prevention at the Institute for Security Studies also reported in February 2022 that sexual offences data collected by detective services showed that roughly 45.8% of kidnappings investigated involved children.
She said that applying the percentage to the table suggests that around 400 cases of abduction for the purpose of sexual assault are of persons under 18.
And in 2% of cases children are the target of kidnapping because of domestic or custody disputes. However, ransom demands are rarely made.
