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Bulisile Mguni and Whinsley Masara Chronicle Reporters
POLICE in Bulawayo are cracking their heads as they try to solve a cryptic puzzle where school pupils disappeared mostly in Emganwini and Nkulumane on a monthly basis for a period stretching from February to May.

Yesterday, The Chronicle published the story of three pupils that went missing in the city under different but equally baffling circumstances. The police said they were searching for Nontobeko Yolanda Nkomo, 10, of Nkulumane 12, Alington Shereni, 15, and Cyril Ndlovu, 15, both of Emganwini.

Now police have added a fourth name: 18-year-old Thabo Ncube, a former Founders High School pupil from Emganwini.

Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo said Thabo went missing on February 12, a day after telling family members he was going to his former school to collect his O’ Level results. That was the last they saw of him.

Cyril Ndlovu, 15, a Form 3 pupil at Hamilton High School, also from the same suburb, went missing on March 1.

Insp Moyo said: “Thabo Ncube is of medium built, about 1,7 metres tall, dark in complexion. He was last seen at around 10AM on February 12 going to collect his Ordinary Level results at school and never returned home.”

Cyril was last seen on March 1 at around 8.30AM. He was wearing a green T-Shirt, a black track bottom and Adidas takkies.

Police are also searching for two other missing children, Nontobeko Yolanda Nkomo, 10, of Nkulumane 12, Alington Shereni, 15, of Emgwanini.

Nkulumane and Emgwanini, which are neighbouring suburbs, are under Nkulumane Police Station’s policing radius.

Nontobeko, a Grade 6 pupil at Mgoqo Primary School, went missing on May 26 and Alington was last seen on April 30.

Said Inspector Moyo: “Nontobeko Nkomo is medium built, about 1.2m tall, dark in complexion. She was last seen on May 28 wearing a bottle green pair of trousers, bottle green jersey, bottle green blouse, black shoes, green socks and a green woollen hat. She was carrying a pink and grey satchel.

“She was last seen at around 9AM on May 28.”

The Bulawayo police spokesperson said the second child, Alington, a boy, was last seen on April 30 at around 8AM. He said Alington is about 1.2m tall, light in complexion, and of medium build.

Alington, a Form 2 pupil at a college in the Bulawayo city centre, left home after he was sent to buy bread at a local grocery shop.

“Alington was last seen wearing a white vest, brown bottom and blue shoes. We’re appealing to anyone with information on the whereabouts of the four missing children to contact the nearest police station. Alternatively, they can contact ZRP Nkulumane on landline 09-481145.”

Tsebiso Ncube, Thabo’s father, told The Chronicle that his son’s disappearence was traumatising family members.

“My son left home on a Tuesday morning going to collect his results. He came back later in the afternoon saying he had failed to get them because he owed the school a textbook which he shared with his friend who stayed in Nketa,” Ncube said.

“On the following morning, his mother gave him transport money to drop off at his friend’s place so that they go together to the school and solve the textbook issue. That was the last we saw of him.”

Thabo’s mother, Botshiwe Ncube, said she called the school and teachers confirmed that Thabo had indeed passed through the school but did not collect his results.

“We confronted the friend who denied sharing a book with Thabo. The boy said he had last seen him on the day they wrote their last examination paper. We then reported the matter to the police.”

Friends said Thabo was a “quiet and reserved boy”.

At the home of the other missing boy, Cyril, his brother, Sipho Ndlovu, told The Chronicle that when his young brother went missing he was not at home.

He, however, said that their mother told him that Cyril had left home in the company of their neighbour identified as Handsome.

“She said Cyril left home with Handsome and they seemed like people who were on their usual errands, but he never returned home. The following morning, we heard that he had slept over at Handsome’s place, which is a few houses from ours,” he said.

“When we asked Handsome’s uncle of the two’s whereabouts, he said Handsome had left for Inyathi while Cyril is alleged to have told him he was going to South Africa. Sometime in May, we heard that the two had been seen at Amarula Night Club in Emganwini where it’s alleged they told patrons they were now working at a mine in Inyathi.”

Sipho said the family got really worried when Handsome returned home without Cyril. Handsome told the family that he was by himself when he went to Inyathi.

“Handsome said he was never in the company of Cyril. He said they parted ways when he went to Inyathi while Cyril headed for South Africa,” said Sipho.

Irene Shawarira, Nontobeko’s mother, told The Chronicle on Monday that her daughter had left for school as usual and she was expecting to see her later at home.

“Ntoe left for school in the morning and at around 9AM I received a call from her teacher informing us that she hadn’t returned to the classroom from the grounds,” said Shawarira.

“We tried to look for her around the school. We even asked her friends from school but they didn’t know where she had gone.”

Shawarira said she called in the police who have been searching for her since.

Alington’s mother, Lavender Kumire, told The Chronicle that she had no idea about the whereabouts of her son.

She said: “I gave him $5 and sent him to buy bread at around 8AM on April 30. He never came back.

“I noticed after about 30 minutes that he was not yet home. I sent his siblings to check on him at the shops but they couldn’t locate him.”

She said she got worried and decided to go and look for her son on her own, but it was in vain.