“Where is Nomcebo?” Nosiseko, who was her mother, asked. “I haven’t seen her since we went to bed last night.”

“She’s probably sleeping,” Annika, who was Noncebo’s younger sister, responded. “You know how she is. Let me go on her and see if she’s in her room.”

After speaking, Annika and Nosiseko went to check for Noncebo in her room, but she was nowhere to be seen. Her bed was still a mess, and when they saw this, they were overcome by a sense of worry in their stomachs. “Where could she be?” they asked themselves, but it was a question they couldn’t answer. Her number went straight to voicemail when they tried to reach to her.

“Where could she be?” Nosiseko cried. She couldn’t think of anything besides her daughter.

“Relax, mom,” Annika responded. “She’ll probably show up. You know how Nomcebo is. She disappears and appears all the time, so nothing will happen to her.”

“I can’t help it, but I feel like something is amiss. Perhaps we should call her boyfriend. He’s our only lead.”

Annika and Nosiseko then tried calling Thando’s phone, but it was also on voicemail. When that happened, everything became quite clear to Annika and Nosiseko: something was amiss. They couldn’t just disappear and go AWOL at the same time.

‘We should open a missing person’s case after a couple of hours,” Annika cried. “Mom, we have to do something.”

“They won’t do anything. They’ll only look for them for a day or two, then close the case, you do know that,” Nosiseko said. “I’m so scared, but I know that nothing will happen to my angel. Nothing will happen to my baby,” she continued, then they both cried embraced each other.

A missing person’s case was filled. The family couldn’t do anything but sit back and be hopeful. A search party was organised by the community. Nosiseko was strongly advised to stay at home and rest, though. However, Nomcebo resembled her with her stubborn nature, and her hard headedness, so she didn’t listen.

The search went on for days, and Thando had also disappeared. He was untraceable. Nomcebo’s body was later found, though, but no one could have explained such an experience. Had you been there, you would have believed that you were watching a horror movie because it was such a horrific event.

Nomcebo’s body was torn and naked. She was wearing wounds and unspoken pain, and she was more like a hero of a corpse. Actually, she wasn’t a corpse because, based on how mutilated it was, her body wasn’t hers. It had missing private parts and a shattered heart. What a hero they had murdered! A bread winner, a woman full of dreams, a dedicated leader, and a mother. They had also taken an unborn, innocent baby that was never introduced to the world, and dreams of being a relative to that baby were completely shattered because of them.

The people who found Nomcebo in that state couldn’t believe their eyes. So many voices wanted to scream and shout in disbelief and anger, some even wanted to start a war. The community was angry: everyone was. Everyone felt like they could have done something, but what could they do when justice itself doesn’t prevail? What could they say when the government failed them? What could they do about their stereotyped society?

“My baby! My baby!” Nosiseko screamed, shouting and doing everything a mother in pain would. “Lord, why have you forsake men? You abandoned me today. I want my child. My child!”

No one said anything while all of that was happening. They didn’t embrace Nosiseko and tell her that it would be fine. Heaven and hell would have watched on if they wanted to. To the moon and back, the sophisticated land was already dead and sinful. It was such a long day, that even the sun didn’t bother showing up. So much so that people couldn’t understand how the day just galloped by.

Tell us: What do you think about the fact that people don’t trust that the police will protect them when they are supposed to? And what do they need to do about it?