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It never rains but pours. The family of missing child Amahle Thabethe has been struck by yet another devastating blow — the death of her father, followed only hours later by the sudden and suspicious death of her uncle. A family already living with six years of unanswered questions is now drowning in new grief, renewed fear, and murmurs of a haunting curse that will not let them rest.
The confirmation of Amahle’s father’s death came on Monday, after his body was discovered at the Heidelberg Government Mortuary. He had been missing since Friday. Just as the family was still processing the shock, they were dealt another tragedy: her uncle, 24-year-old Mandla Nkosi, died in the early hours of Wednesday morning from suspected poisoning while on his way to Pholosong Hospital.
For a family whose nightmare began in April 2019 — when eight-year-old Amahle was lured away by an unknown man in Tsakani and never seen again — the events of this week have reopened wounds that never had a chance to heal.
Amahle would have turned 14 this year. Her name continues to circulate on missing person posters, shared by South Africans each time her story resurfaces. Her mother, Nokulunga, has held onto hope for six long years. She continues to believe her daughter is alive somewhere, waiting to be found. But this hope now carries the weight of fresh tragedies.
Her father, 47-year-old Mzwakhe Thabethe, left home last Friday, telling his family he was meeting friends in Heidelberg. When hours passed without contact, relatives grew worried. His phone went unanswered. Friends said they had not seen him. Over the weekend, the family circulated his photograph across social media, pleading with the public for help.
By Monday, the search ended in heartbreak. The family was informed that his body had been at the government mortuary since the weekend. A relative, speaking quietly, said they were told he had been involved in a car accident while travelling alone. No further details were provided.
“We hoped the search would end differently,” the family member said. “We prayed he would walk back through the door. Losing him like this, after everything we’ve already gone through, is unbearable.”
The shock of his death had hardly settled when another tragedy struck even closer to the bone.
Amahle’s uncle, Mandla Nkosi, a young man who had been central to the search for her since 2019, collapsed at home around midnight on Tuesday, complaining of severe body pains. His mother, Lindi Nkosi, described the night as the most traumatic of her life.
“He came home around eight,” she said. “He wasn’t himself. Later that night he knocked on my door saying his whole body was hurting. His temperature was too high. While we were trying to find transport to the hospital, he started losing his eyesight… then he couldn’t talk.”
By the time they reached the gates of Pholosong Hospital, Mandla had no pulse.
Doctors later told the family that his symptoms were consistent with poisoning.
For Nokulunga, Amahle’s mother, Mandla’s death raises painful questions she cannot silence.
“He gave everything to finding my daughter,” she said. “He searched places I was too afraid to go. He spoke to people I didn’t want to meet. He followed every rumour, every lead. Now that he is gone like this… I wonder what he discovered. I wonder who felt threatened.”
Her voice, steady at first, breaks when she speaks about the day Amahle disappeared. It was a sunny afternoon in April 2019. Children were playing in the street outside their home in Tsakani. A man approached. Amahle followed him. She never returned.
Since then, Mandla had become the family’s unofficial investigator, chasing every lead that surfaced. He identified children in videos, travelled to different provinces when tips came in, and worked closely with police to verify information. His determination often filled the gaps left by slow progress in the official investigation.
Recently, when a social media video of a girl believed to be Amahle circulated again, Mandla was the first to examine it. He helped confirm that the child was not her. According to the family, he had been following several new leads before his sudden death.
Now, two deaths in one week have plunged the family into deeper uncertainty.
For Nokulunga, the tragedies have awakened old fears — but not enough to dim her hope.
“My motherly instincts tell me she is alive,” she said. “I will not stop believing that. I light a candle for her every birthday. I talk to her as if she can hear me. And I pray every day that she comes home.”
She wonders whether her daughter has a new identity, if she is being kept somewhere, if she is still in the country, if she is going to school.
“It hurts that she will be turning 12 away from home again,” she said. “Only her body will make me believe she is gone. Until then, I hold on.”
As the family prepares for two funerals, the broader community is shaken. Six years after Amahle vanished, the circle of tragedy around her name continues to widen — with no answers, no arrests, and no closure.
The police reward of R50 000 remains on offer for any information that could lead to her recovery.
For now, her mother’s plea is simple:
“If you know where my daughter is… please bring her home.”
