By Sonica Naudé-Steyn

Democratic Alliance KZN Leader, Francois Rodgers, has shown concern about the alleged disappearance of children from the Kokstad and moreover, Marikana area.
He was speaking during an engagement on Saturday after he met with the family of the still missing Lathitha Mtolo, a 7-year-old that went missing on 27 February 2026 from the Marikana area.
Rodgers said he wanted to meet with the family, speak to the authorities and community to find out for himself what the progress in the case was.
“I spoke to Colonel Ruiters from SAPS as well as the community and it does seem as if there are children disappearing out of this community. One does not want to start any fearmongering however if there is evidence of this it needs to be escalated,” said Rodgers.
He said he would be engaging with the KZN Premier, Thami Ntuli, share his discoveries during his visit and urge further action.
“In December a child disappeared and there has been one or two other reports of children disappearing. My appeal to him (Ntuli) will be to get a special task team to investigate this. I think Kokstad SAPS have enough on their hands and this should be done by a special task team,” said Rodgers.