ttienne, who went missing on Sunday afternoon, March 16, in Popcorn Valley, Reiger Park, was found unharmed just after 8am on Monday, March 17, by the Germiston police.
However, the Germiston police was unable to identify him as the missing boy from Reiger Park.
Spokesperson for the Germiston police, Andre De Jager, admits that although the information about the missing boy circulated to all police stations in the country, including Germiston SAPS, on March 18, his station took a few days to inform the Reiger Park SAPS that the child who went missing from their precinct had been found.
“This was due to communication problems among officers at our station. We will make sure that this does not happen in future by improving communication among our members.”
This is after the Reiger Park police and hundreds of community members searched for the boy from March 17 until March 24.
According to the boy’s mother, Michelle Morris, her son apparently slipped into a taxi travelling from Reiger Park to Germiston.
“The taxi driver only noticed the boy when the taxi arrived in Germiston. He then asked someone from the taxi rank to take the boy to the Germiston police station, on Sunday evening.”
“Someone brought the child to the police station on Sunday night, and he slept in the Victim Empowerment Centre. He was then taken to the charge office on Monday morning, March 17,” says de Jager.
De Jager, admitted that Ettienne Morris then went missing from their custody, on Monday, March 17.
“When at the charge office, he asked to use the toilet and the police allowed him to go to the toilet, but he never came back to the charge office. He apparently used the other entrance and slipped out of the building,” adds de Jager.
According to a social worker at the Germiston Child Welfare, Julia Njgoeng, a woman spotted the vulnerable boy playing in the street next to Standard Bank, in Germiston.
The woman took Ettienne back to the police station, but this time, according to Njgoeng, the police turned her and the boy away, adding that it is not their duty to deal with such matters, but the social workers’ duty, according to Njgoeng.
The woman went to the Child Welfare, and with the assistance of Njgoeng, she finally managed to get the police to help her file a sworn affidavit relating to the discovery of Ettienne.
Responding to this allegation, de Jager urges the woman to formally lodge a complaint to the station management.
“The matter will then be investigated and actions taken against the members involved.”
Social workers then put Ettienne in a place of safety in Germiston on Monday, March 17.
Njgoeng says social workers are still to decide whether to reunite Ettienne with his mother or permanently place him in a centre for children with disabilities.
Michelle thanked all those who assisted the police to find her son, and especially the woman who discovered him playing in the street in Germiston.
“Although at first I had hoped that he would be found safe and uninjured, but as days went by, without a trace I started fearing for the worst and even thinking of taking my own life.”
Hundreds of community members and several agencies across Boksburg assisted the police in the case.
One of the community members, Othandiswa Mthonjeni, says a missing child is one of the things that no one in their community wants to happen, and when it happens, they all stand together and assist where they can.
“Despite our cultural and religious diversity, in this community we all stand for the principle that children don’t belong to their parents, or their families, but they belong to the whole community.
“So whenever something bad happens to a child in the community, we all take actions,” says Mthonjeni.
