A day before Christmas in 2022, the then six-year-old Washu Tshihume disappeared without a trace from Lamvi, a village roughly 50 km north-east of Thohoyandou. More than two years later, his mother is still anxiously waiting to learn what happened to her son, and she believes the government is not doing enough to search for him.
Murendeni Manyatshe said in an interview this past weekend that she still burst into tears when she thought of her young boy. Little Washu was visiting his paternal grandparents when he mysteriously disappeared while playing with other children. Even though members of the community spent weeks searching the entire area and nearby villages, they could not find the boy.
Shortly after he disappeared, Washu's grandmother, Ms. Tshilidzi Manyatshe, said she would never have peace in her heart until she knew what had happened to her grandson.
"After he disappeared, the police promised us that they had established a provincial task team to look into the matter, but my grandson is still nowhere to be found. They don't even update us about their investigations. I pray that one day, God will intervene in this mysterious disappearance of my grandson. Someone has to answer for what happened to him," she said.
Murendeni Manyatshe shares this sentiment and mentioned that she had not heard from the police in over a year. "It looks like they have stopped searching for him," she said, while appealing to the SAPS not to give up on the case. She also asked members of the local community to please contact her or the nearest police station if they have any information. "Even if he is no longer alive, let me know where he has been buried," she said.
She called on those who knew what had happened to her son to bring him back, dead or alive. "If he is dead, please show me where his remains are, so that we can bury him with dignity," she said.
The head of communication for the Limpopo SAPS, Brig Thulani Mashaba, was unavailable for comment at the time of our going to print.