A family in Honeydew in Joburg West is desperately searching for Zanele Charmaine Maphumulo after she went missing for five days.
Maphumulo’s disappearance comes after eight women were killed in Ekurhuleni by a suspected serial killer.
Maphumulo, a mother of two disappeared on Saturday, 12 September.
According to her sister Bongi, Maphumulo left home at 13:40, wearing a white floral shirt, black pants and flip-flops.
Bongi said they had just returned from church when Maphumulo changed clothes and walked out to go and visit her boyfriend.
“She received a call from her boyfriend who kept asking when she was coming. She indicated that she can’t talk, she’s in the car with her sister. But because he was insisting, she ended up saying ‘I will see if I can come’,” Bongi said.
She said the family believes Maphumulo went to visit her boyfriend as she implied before she left home.
“She didn’t say where she was going but I could tell it’s the boyfriend because when she speaks to anyone else she’s free, but when speaking to him she’s cagey,” she said.
Bongi said the last message the family received from her read: “Dadewethu lomuntu uyahlanya, he won’t let me go and ungiphuce iPhone”.
“I think she did reach her destination. Her last message was that one. She didn’t communicate further and since it’s not a long distance, I really didn’t expect her to,” the sister said.
Bongi said the family reported the matter to the police on Monday, 14 September after she did not return home.
“I thought she would be back and didn’t want to make my family panic,” she said.
She said the family reported the matter to the police because this is her first disappearance.
The sister said attempts to contact her were unsuccessful. Texts were not delivered until Monday afternoon when they showed as delivered and read, but there was no response.
Amid the recent surge in violence against women, the family is distraught.
“What will I say to her kids? My mom is traumatised as we speak,” the sister said.
She appealed to the public for help: “To help in any way possible. Zanele is a mom of two and her children need her.”
Anyone with knowledge of Zanele’s whereabouts can contact Detective Hlongwane of Honeydew Police Station on 084 769 2224, South African Police Services (SAPS) on 08600 10111 or missing person NGO, Pink Ladies on 072 214 7439 via WhatsApp.
