Happy Sindaneis 16 years old - court
2003-05-26 11:04
Bronkhorstspruit - Happy Sindane, the boy who claims to be the abducted son of white parents and who was raised by a black family in Mpumalanga, is a minor, the children's court found on Monday.
According to evidence before the court, Happy is 16 years old and should be protected under the Child Care Act, said magistrate Marthinus Kruger.
Several members of the Sindane family were present at the hearing.
The Sowetan reported last week that a Xhosa-speaking woman from Diepsloot, north-west of Johannesburg, said Happy could be the son of her late cousin.
Tozi Ben told the paper that 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 had from an accident.
Pretoria couple gave blood samples
Happy was apparently returned to Mampinga who sent him to stay with a friend with a son of the same age.
Blood samples have been taken from a Pretoria couple who also believed 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 said they had received a number of calls from people claiming the youth was their son, but suspect some of the calls were hoaxes.
- SAPA