Grady Mondo remained missing since the 15th July 2019, and then Missing Children South Africa received a call from Lettie Motsitsi, a nurse from Steve Biko hospital.
She had fortunately seen MCSA’s ‘Missing Flyer’ on Facebook, and realised that it was Grady, who was in the hospital and unidentified until then!
Grady is mentally disabled and cannot speak, and as a result of this they had no idea who he was and was not able to identify him. They tried contacting the authorities, but had no feedback from them and he remained a patient at the hospital.
Grady had been hit by a car just after going missing. He was in ICU, and when he was moved to the normal ward, he ended up with Lettie who took care of him, and tried to help identify him.
Lisa Marie Venter, a student nurse from Pretoria University, also assisted in helping.
After Lettie contacted MCSA, we made contact with Grady’s mother and informed her of the good news. She was overjoyed, and beyond grateful to hear that her son was found alive and that she would finally be reunited with Grady, who was delighted to see his mom.
Missing Children South Africa is privileged to have been a part of this happy ending, and being able to reunite mother and child.
Grady’s mother could not thank us enough and the relief of having found her son brought tears to our eyes. She sent us this personal message: ‘Thank you for the great job you do of helping people, it was not going to be possible without you’.
Our website www.missingchildren.org.za acts as an emergency report facility, as well as being MCSA’s platform for informational and educational material with regards to Child Safety.
The service MCSA offers to the community and government is invaluable and as you can imagine we certainly have our work cut out for us. We provide our services free of charge to anyone who needs us. Sadly we don’t necessarily enjoy the same privilege for our needs and our financial requirements quite often outweigh our resources! We rely solely on the goodwill of individuals and corporations for financial support – funding remains MCSA’s biggest challenge.
The Covid-19 has had an absolutely dreadful and devastating impact on donations and funding for Missing Children South Africa, which is completely understandable as everybody is experiencing their own crisis’ and trying to navigate through these unchartered waters.
You can assist us now by clicking here https://missingchildren.org.za/donate/ and donating – this will be deeply appreciated and is much needed. Education plays an incredibly vital role in the life of Missing Children South Africa, and all funds received is utilised to further MCSA’s educational program; ‘Tips for Children’ and ‘Tips for Parents’ which promotes Child Safety. The education is targeted to all the vulnerable and orphaned children, and also children with disabilities. The education is also shared with parents, guardians and the families who take care of these children. The education focuses on not only the dangers, but also the solutions with regards to what to do to keep children safe, and especially what not do.
What To Do When A Child Goes Missing
Try not to panic and DO NOT WAIT 24 hours to report your missing child.
Get a responsible person to stay at your house while you’re at the police station or searching for your child. This person can take messages if someone calls about the child’s disappearance or if the child returns home.
Go to your nearest police station and take a recent photograph of your child with you.
Make sure that the photograph is of good quality so that your child will be easily identifiable.
Give a good description of what your child was wearing, their last whereabouts and any information that may help the police.
Complete a SAPS 55 (A) form which safeguards the police against false or hoax reports.
This form also gives the Police permission to distribute the photos and information of the missing child.
Make sure the police give you a reference number and a contact name and number of the SAPS officer(s) assigned to the investigation.
Click on our Report Now button, and complete the form: https://missingchildren.org.za/report/.
Remember that if your child returns home, you should go to the Police station to report that your child is safe and let MSCA know that your child has returned home safely.
Missing Children South Africa’s social media platforms are:
FB: https://www.facebook.com/MissingChildrenSouthAfrica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/072MISSING
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/missingchildrensa/
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