I was slave in black township for 12 years: white teen

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | May 21 2003

[dead]

An 18-year-old white youth arrived at a police station outside Pretoria on Monday claiming he had spent the past 12 years as a slave in a black township after being abducted by his family's domestic worker.

Police spokesman Percy Morokane told AFP that the blond, brown-eyed boy, who could speak only Ndebele, told officers at the Bronkhorstspruit police station that his family's domestic worker kidnapped him when he was six years old.

"He said the domestic worker asked him to accompany her to the shops. He went with her and she gave him to a black couple at a construction site," Inspector Morokane said.

"The boy said he stayed with the couple for three days before they decided to hand him over to the police.

"When they left him at the police station, he said he decided to follow them because he was too scared to stay, and remained with them. He did not see the domestic worker again."

Inspector Morokane said the boy, known only by his adopted name of Happy Sidane, remembered very little about his real family other than that they were Afrikaans-speaking and lived in Johannesburg.

He remembered he was born on May 4, 1985, and had a small dog as a pet.

He also remembered his parents' wedding photographs in their home.

Inspector Morokane said the boy recounted that he lived with the black couple in the north-eastern town of Verena for about a year.

When the couple separated, he moved with the woman, her three children and a number of other relatives to the nearby township of Tweefontein.

"He said he attended a primary school where he was teased because he was white," Inspector Morokane said.

The boy said a woman teacher and neighbours had offered a number of times to help him, but they were all too scared of his "grandfather".

Inspector Morokane said the boy had told police he had seen his picture on television some time between 1994 and 1999.

"He said when he told his 'mother' it was he, she threw him against a wall and ordered him never to watch television again," Inspector Morokane said.

The boy said that, when the woman died, his "grandfather" began to treat him like a slave.

"He said he left school in grade five to become a herd boy for his grandfather. He was made to do menial tasks and was beaten when he did anything wrong," Inspector Morokane said.

The boy left home last year when his "grandfather" threatened to poison him.

"He said he spent about three months working on an orange farm, but then returned home."

The threats by his "grandfather" continued, so he sought help from a woman friend, who dropped him at the police station on Monday.

Inspector Morokane said the police's Missing Person's Bureau and Child Protection Unit were investigating the matter.

"They are taking statements from the boy's woman friend and from people living in the villages where he claimed he grew up," he said.

AFP

[xrp]

Jesse Jackson should be enraged over this.

[DainBramage]

[Constitution Day]

Thanks for the post.
I just read this story on a SA website... my wife was born in Johannesburg, so I sometimes e-mail her news from there.

Here is the link to the story on Independent Online:

Cops probe teen's 12-year abduction claim

[adkann01]

It is amazing that this is the first that I have heard of this story. Where is the ACLU on this one, oh wait, it was a white kid

[dalebert]

No reparations for the white kid?

[July 4th]

He remembered he was born on May 4, 1985

Good memory.

[denydenydeny]

This is a very odd story. How could his family of origin have just forgotten about him like that? I find it hard to believe that, during white rule, a white child could just disappear with no fuss or investigation.

[Rytwyng]

He remembered he was born on May 4, 1985

Good memory.

He was about 6 when kidnapped. Most 6 year olds remember their birthdays quite well.

[dead]

He remembered seeing himself on television, so there apparently was a fuss being raised.

I would imagine that certain townships could be pretty insular, and difficult for investigators to penetrate.

[Rytwyng]

ping

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Amazing

[Constitution Day]

This town (Verena) is in Mpumalanga Province (formerly the Transvaal).
I've never been to Verena but have been in many other areas in Mpumalanga.
It's very rural & isolated, and the population is overwhelmingly black.

I can see where this child could go undetected indefinitely.

[Egregious Philbin]

Wrong country guys. This happened in South Africa, not the U.S..

Just once i'd like to see a thread about Africa without references to Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, or reparations.

[SquirrelKing]

C'mon, is this for real?

[Constitution Day]

Yes.

[Delphinium]

There must have been some investigation? "the boy had told police he had seen his picture on television some time between 1994 and 1999."

[SquirrelKing]

Dern.

[Capitalism2003]

can you imagine...think for a minute...Imagine this were a black kid enslaved by a white family...We would have national emergency broadcast system alert...This would be on eveyr news site on the web...every radio news update...news on all major networks...

Since it was a white kid, I doubt this will get a peep.

[Publius6961]

Since it was a white kid, I doubt this will get a peep. ,p> Are you serious?
That's only one.

399,999,999 more to go. Then we'll be even.

Primitive minds are very pragmatic about this sort of thing.