By Sihle Mavuso
A Pietermaritzburg mother is desperately trying to find her 27-year-old son who was allegedly kidnapped by people who accused him of breaking into a car during a prayer service and stealing items including a cellphone worth R38,000.
Delisile Chamane from KwaShange on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg says her son, Mxolisi Mhlongo, is a drug addict.
She was worried when she did not see him for days and asked a friend of his where he was.
Delisile learnt that her son together with one of his friends was taken by a group of armed people.
She has opened a missing person case at the Plessislaer police station.
“My son Mxolisi was taken by unknown people on Sunday 24 February, who accused him of stealing a cellphone,” Delisile told Scrolla.Africa. “They took him with one of his friends to the city centre of Pietermaritzburg demanding that they show them the pawn shop where the cellphone was sold.
“When they got there, they found the shop closed. They then gave taxi money to his friend and told him to board a taxi back home since he did not steal the phone. My son was left behind and we have not seen him since then.”
Her son’s friend was warned not to tell anyone about the matter because the kidnappers told him “that they will deal with him in their own way”.
Delisile said she approached the woman who was pointed out to her as the owner of the cellphone, but she denied her cellphone had been stolen.
“Our search has even taken us to Loop Street [a busy, main street in the city] where we left a picture to be used to help us locate my son. Even if they have killed him, it would be better to locate his body and bury him,” Delisile said.
Pictured above: Mxolisi Mhlongo, who was allegedly kidnapped by people accusing him of stealing a cellphone.
Image source: Supplied
