With world’s attention on the case of Joslin Smith in Saldanha, Bianca van Aswegen – the national coordinator for Missing Children South Africa, joined us to chat about the extent of the problem of children and people in South Africa who go missing.
The scary reality
Bianca says it’s difficult to know the extent of the problem as SAPS hasn’t published statistics since 2013. According to the last figures released by the SAPS Missing Persons Bureau (SAPS) for 2013, children go missing every 5 hours.
“I think it’s important that people see how Joslin Smith’s case was handled to realise what the problem in South Africa is”
Do not wait 24 hours to report a missing child
Missing Children SA is a Non-Profit and Public Benefit Organisation that works with SAPS when a person goes missing in South Africa. In the event that someone does go missing, they are able to help when you take the following steps:
- Complete the SAPS 55(A) form which can be found at your nearest South African Police Station. This will ensure that you have an official SAPS case number. MCSA by law, CANNOT process a request without an official SAPS case number.
- Fill in the form found here and ensure all the fields are filled in correctly.
- Keep Missing Children South Africa posted on any and all progress.
Any assistance you can offer through a donation towards Missing Children SA can be done here.
