MISSING CHILDREN SA

SUMMARY OF CASES REPORTED TO MISSING CHILDREN SA

(For the term: 1 December 2014 – 30 November 2015)

Please note that the following figures are only based on cases reported to Missing Children SA and do not reflect all the cases reported to SAPS.

According to the Missing Persons Bureau, a child goes missing every 5 hours in our country. In 2013 they recorded 1697 cases of missing children reported to the South African Police Service.
Our caseload increases every year – not necessarily only because more individuals go missing, but also because more people become aware of Missing Children SA and the service we render.
Our overall figures for the term mentioned above look as follow:

Please note: On a daily basis we are striving to make more and more people aware of the reality of Human Trafficking. We are sure more cases reported to SAPS as well as to our organisation are because of Human Trafficking, but at this stage, it cannot be proven. According to the International Labour Organisation, it is estimated that 1.2 million children are trafficked each year. Furthermore, 32 billion dollars profit is generated annually from Human Trafficking.
Below, please find the break-down (in percentage) of the different ages of children reported to our organisation (1 December 2014 – 30 November 2015):

The month with the most cases reported to our organisation was August 2015 with 90 cases.
The month with the least cases reported was April 2015 with only 35 cases.

Totals of individuals found deceased:

Children – 12
Adults – 34

The racial group distribution:

About Missing Children SA

Missing Children SA is a registered NPO and PBO that assists the authorities when an individual goes missing in South Africa, for any reason whatsoever. We work closely with the South African Police Service and other government bodies as well as other NGO’s and private initiatives, to assist in the recovery and safe return of any missing person.

Our first tier is that of an emergency response service. We have a national helpline for incident reports and callers are advised on which immediate steps to take in logging the incident officially so as to ensure efficient and timeous action. Secondly, by activating a vast national social and media network we distribute flyers of missing children, creating mass awareness of the individual and maximising the chances of that child being recovered. Lastly, since prevention is the most efficient way to keep our children safe, we strive to educate both parents/guardians and children on the dangers of abduction and human trafficking etc. We also liaise with the investigating officers on the case so as to ensure a continuous flow of information between the parents and authorities.

Our website www.missingchildren.org.za acts as an emergency report facility as well as being a platform for informational and educational material with regards to child safety.
We have over 60 000 members on our Facebook page alone excluding the individual networks of our board members, volunteers and other affiliates which makes for incredibly efficient, instant mass distribution of flyers, within moments of an incident.

We are based in the Western Cape but operate on a national level and as such, are the most recognised, free community service for missing individuals in the country.

The service MCSA offers to the community and government is invaluable and as you can imagine we certainly have our work cut out for us. We provide our services free of charge to anyone who needs us. Sadly we don’t necessarily enjoy the same privilege for our needs and our financial requirements quite often outweigh our resources! We rely solely on the goodwill of individuals and corporations for financial support. 

Some General Safety Tips: