Child Kidnapping Cases Surge in South Africa, Missing Children SA and SAPS Weigh In on Growing Trend
- There has been an increase in kidnapping cases in South Africa in which children were the targets
- Bianca van Aswegen from Missing Children South African weighed in on the recent surge in cases
- Police Minister Senzo Mchunu blamed the country's porous borders for the kidnapping cases
Source: Getty Images
Briefly News journalist Byron Pillay has spent a decade reporting on the South African political landscape, crime and social issues. He spent 10 years working for a community newspaper before transitioning to online
An increase in kidnapping cases involving children in South Africa has once more raised awareness of the crime trend.
While there have been many high-profile cases over the years, in late 2024 and 2025 there has been a surge in criminal activity.
Briefly News recently spoke to Bianca van Aswegen, National Co-ordinator of Missing Children South Africa (MCSA) about the alarming increase in crime.
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Numerous reasons why children go missing
Van Aswegan noted that there were numerous reasons why children go missing each year.
She added that while some were runaways, who often left home to escape abuse at home, children also went missing as a result of kidnapping.
“Children are kidnapped for various reasons, either ransom demand kidnappings, opportunistic kidnappings, traditional medicine related kidnapping etc.”
She added that there was also the issue of human trafficking that has escalated.
Stats aren’t readily available
Van Aswegen also noted that stats weren’t always readily available, but cautioned against solely relying on stats, as it only gave a general indication of the current problem.
“Stats should not be focused on, as stats will not help bring a child home. We hope that the media will make a mind shift and instead of focusing on stats assist us and SAPS in featuring the cases to assist in finding a child,” she said.”
Parents should report cases immediately
The common belief that there is a waiting period before children can be reported is a myth, Van Aswegen pointed out.
“The quicker the case gets reported to quicker action can be taken. The first thing is to open a case with your nearest police station and contact us at MCSA so action can be taken,”
She added that in the case of any suspicious activities it should immediately be reported to SAPS or MCSA.
Source: Getty Images
Real and fake kidnappings dominate the headlines
While the Joslin Smith case still makes headlines a year after the seven-year-old went missing, numerous other cases of children going missing have made the news.
On 24 January 2025, police in Gauteng rescued a nine-year-old boy who had been kidnapped in Laudium, Pretoria. The youngster was missing for four days until he was found in a house in Danville, Pretoria. Five foreign nationals were arrested for the crime.
On 9 February nine-year-old Emaan Fatima was reunited with her family following her kidnapping ordeal. The youngster was kidnapped on 4 February in Buffalo Flats, in the Eastern Cape.
She was nabbed in full view of other pupils, as she was kidnapped outside a school. Three foreign nationals were also arrested for the crime.
While kidnapping cases are on the rise, not all are as they seem. On 13 November, two-year-old Kutlwano Shalaba was reported missing by his mother, who claimed that he was kidnapped. His mother, Keneilwe, has since appeared in court after it was discovered that she received R75 000 on the day of his disappearance.
She has been charged with human trafficking, conspiracy to commit an offence and making a false statement to the police.
Senzo Mchunu blames foreigners for kidnapping cases
Speaking about the trend, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu stated that most kidnappings in South Africa involved illegal foreigners. He noted that the syndicates exploited weak border controls.
During the release of the third quarter crime statistics on 21 February, Mchunu touched on kidnappings once more, saying that most of the kidnappings are said to be orchestrated from within St Albans prisons and that the mastermind of these kidnappings still had access to several cell phones.
Almost 2,000 children missing since 2022
Briefly News reported that almost 2,000 children have been reported missing since 2022.
National Police Spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe confirmed that 742 were never seen again.
South Africans described how painful it was to know how easily some of the country's children went missing every year.
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Source: Briefly News
