The children of kidnapped municipal manager Maggie Skosana have been prevented from attending school over safety concerns.
For seven days the family has been praying for the safe return of Skosana, 42, and her driver Gugu Mtsweni, 31, who were kidnapped outside the district municipal offices in Middelburg, Mpumalanga, on Thursday last week.
The family has been advised to keep the children at home.
Skosana’s brother-in-law Peter Skosana said while the family was desperately praying for the safe return of the kidnapped women, the municipal manager's two children, one in grade 12 and the other in university, were traumatised.
“Currently there are two young children. They are not going to school as we speak because we are afraid that something might happen to them. The one in matric should have started exams on Monday, the other in varsity is due to start soon. They are not coping at all with what is happening.”
He said they were also concerned about Skosana’s well-being, especially because she uses a wheelchair for mobility and needs insulin shots twice a day. Her wheelchair was found abandoned soon after the incident.
“We are also worried about her medical well-being and the trauma the two of them are going through. She [Skosana] uses insulin twice a day, in the morning and in the afternoon, and we are worried that she might not be taking it.”
The pair were kidnapped by men believed to have been dressed in police uniforms.
Peter said the kidnapping took place around 8.30am, but the family only found out later in the afternoon when they received a call from the municipality inquiring about Skosana’s whereabouts. Skosana has been working for the Nkangala municipality for more than10 years.
“They also asked when last we saw her because she missed her 10am meeting, and that it was unlike her. None of us had answers about her whereabouts until a video footage emerged. The CCTV showed that they had been kidnapped at 8.30am just outside the offices.”
The Skosana home in Middelburg has been inundated with visits from colleagues and friends, with multiple vehicles parked inside the yard yesterday.
Security was tight and armed guards could be seen manning the various entrances to the home.
Skosana’s husband Vusi has been having sleepless nights, stressing over his wife’s abduction, and has since been in the company of other family members, including his parents and his wife’s elderly mother.
“My brother is struggling to sleep at night without his wife... he is always thinking about her. The entire family is just struggling to cope. We are on day six and it feels like it has been 10 weeks. It’s devastating," Peter said.
“Friends and family members are assisting us with prayers. We are also receiving well-wishes through social media and church members come to pray with us daily. We are appealing to South Africans to please help us with prayers so that we can get them back home safely.”
sibiyan@sowetan.co.za
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