The South African Police Service (SAPS) said it has from 2020 reunited 17 968 missing persons with their loved ones.
These were adults and children that were reported as missing at police stations across the country.
Of the figure, the number of adults found through intelligence and detective work is 15 005 adults.
2 963 are children under 18 years of age, with 1 919 being female, and 967 male children.
About 600 children are reported missing every year, with many fleeing abuse in their homes. According to Missing Children South Africa’s statistics, 77% of children are found while 23% are never found, trafficked, or found deceased.
SAPS divers recovered an additional 3 099 bodies from water sources such as rivers and dams. These were people that had drowned. The teams also assisted in rescue efforts of 2 577 persons from water sources.
The SAPS said it remains committed to its mandate of serving and protecting all people living in South Africa and reminds everyone that there is no waiting period to report a loved one missing.
During missing persons investigations, the SAPS appoints a multidisciplinary team to handle these cases which include seasoned detectives, crime and counter intelligence officers, the DPCI (HAWKS), K9 search and rescue, cybercrime unit and where necessary the police diving unit.
Senior training coordinator and researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, Willem Els, told the Sunday World that human trafficking is one of the primary causes of people going missing and they are used in forced labour, illicit sex trade and ritual killings for the illegal trade in human tissue.
Criminologist at Stellenbosch University Dr Guy Lamb said the main reasons people go missing is due to mental health and criminal activities. “When people have mental health disorders such as depression and schizophrenia, they decide to leave their homes and end up living on the streets,” he said.
“The other way that people go missing is when they fall prey to scams on social media. Usually, when people go missing, they are kidnapped from their homes on their way to work, or on their way home or on their way to the shops. The kidnappers plan the kidnapping, and monitor the victim before executing the crime,” said Lamb.
The South African Police Service’s annual crime statistics show that in the past decade, kidnappings increased by 264% from 4 692 in 2014/15 to 17 061 in 2023/24. From July to September, the latest period for which there are official crime statistics, a daily average of 50 kidnappings were reported to police – up by nearly 8% compared to the same period in 2023.
