Is Happy his 'abductor's' child?

2003-05-22 16:51

Johannesburg - Police were on Thursday probing new allegations regarding the true identity of Happy Sindane, the white youth who claims he was kidnapped as a child and raised by a black family in rural Mpumalanga.

The Sowetan reported on Thursday that a Xhosa-speaking woman from Diepsloot, north-west of Johannesburg, said Happy could be the son of a late cousin.

Tozi Ben told the paper Rina Mampinga, who died last year, had a son with the white owner of a Fourways smallholding. Mampinga named her son Happy.

Ben said she raised Happy until 1989 when she could no longer care for him because of injuries she sustained in an accident.

Happy was then reportedly returned to Mampinga who sent him to stay with a friend who had a son of the same age.

Department of justice spokesperson Heinrich Augustyn said the court and the investigating officer in the case had been informed of the allegations.

He declined to discuss the matter further, saying a full statement would be issued on Monday after Happy's next appearance in court under the 1983 Child Care Act.

Blood samples

Blood samples were taken on Wednesday from a Pretoria couple who also believed that they were the parents of the youth.

Jan-Hendrik and Sarie Botha's son, Jannie, disappeared from Danville, an impoverished Pretoria suburb, in 1992.

Police say they have received a number of calls from people claiming the youth was their son.

"I can't say exactly how many calls we received," spokesperson Inspector Percy Morokane said. "Many of these could also be hoax calls."

Morokane said people who believed Happy was their son should give the case numbers and dates on which they reported their children missing.

The police's Missing Person's Bureau was still searching through its records to see if more information could be found.

- SAPA