THE excitement surrounding the first day of school quickly turned into distress for some families in Durban amid reports of first-time school-going children going missing.
However, there was relief as the children were later safely reunited with their families.
On Wednesday, a four-year-old Grade R pupil from Everest Heights Primary in Verulam went missing after mistakenly boarding the wrong scholar transport vehicle.
Fortunately, the driver noticed and contacted Reaction Unit SA for assistance and the child was reunited with his family.
Prem Balram, spokesperson for RUSA, said: “We deal with many children who go missing after school because their transport left them, or they were unsure which transport to take home. They do not have contact details for the parents.”
Rusa was instrumental in some of the searches for children who went missing on their first day of school.
According to Balram, Rusa dealt with more than 30 cases involving missing persons, including children, every month.
Of this, 50% were children, said Balram.
"Some of them are kidnapped, and some are just lost. We find some of them alive, but we find others dead,” he added.
Balram urged parents to be vigilant, particularly concerning children who relied on transport services for daily commutes from home to school and back.
In uMlazi, Musa Mthimkhulu, a leader at the Community Policing Forum, reported having attended to four cases of missing children on Wednesday.
He said they were also reunited with their families, however, stressing that the trauma of missing children suffered by loved ones was unbearable.
“We are always left heartbroken when we deal with the issue of missing children because the kids are always traumatised by the experience. We urge parents and guardians of the children to be vigilant, especially those who use scholar transport. Those who collect their kids from their respective schools must always be punctual,” said Mthimkhulu.
He also emphasised that parents should be in constant communication with the teachers and people who drove their children to school.
Mthimkhulu said they are always on high alert on the first day of the school calendar to deal with an array of issues, including missing children.
“We visit several schools and ensure that the children are safe and they don’t go missing. We are unable to cover all the schools in the township, but some teachers and residents have our contact details, and they call us whenever there is a missing child,” he said.
The SAPS has also urged families dealing with missing persons, including children, to report incidents promptly at their nearest police stations, provide recent photographs and accurate descriptions of missing individuals, which could significantly assist with searches.
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DAILY NEWS