Snatched baby’s mom still waiting for feedback
The devastated young mother of a baby girl who went missing after she disappeared with another woman at a Port Elizabeth clinic earlier this month said she was still waiting for feedback from the police after weeks of uncertainty.
Phezisa Makuzeni, 22, was at the Gqebera Clinic in Walmer for an appointment with a doctor on October 5 when a woman unknown to her offered to look after her then two-month-old baby, Lizalise, while she was seeing the doctor.
When people at the clinic realised the woman and baby were missing, they rushed out to the street and learnt from a taxi driver that he had dropped them off at the taxi rank off Govan Mbeki Avenue. Makuzeni was consulted by police who, with the assistance of police artists, compiled a computer-generated picture of the woman being sought for questioning. Almost three weeks later, Makuzeni says she has not heard back from the police. “I am still waiting for them to come back [to me],” the distraught mother said. “I know my child is still out there, although I am feeling dead inside.” Makuzeni said she was confident about her child being safely returned because of the breast milk she was still producing. “To us here at home, that means our child is still alive and will be found,” she said. Lizalise’s father, Sithembile Mgushelo, said money was a problem for the family as no one was working because of the stress. “It is very hard to do anything. Phezisa has constant headaches and I am always ‘de-stressing’ through drinking. I think she [Phezisa] has now developed a migraine because of the abduction of our child.” Mgushelo said. Police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg confirmed an identikit had been drawn up with the assistance of Makuzeni and distributed. She said the case had been handed over to the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit for further investigation. “At this stage we do not have any further information. Detectives are still working on the case,” she said. The woman who snatched Lizalise is believed to be from Zwide. Anyone with information which could assist the investigation is asked to contact the police. – Additional reporting by Ntombesizwe Botha
