KEKELETSO Ndlovu has a habit of disappearing for a week at a time – but this time he was away from home for four months.
Gogo Rose Ndlovu (71) from Lilly squatter camp near Meadowlands, Soweto, thought Keketso Ndlovu (21) was lost forever. But now she can sleep peacefully again, knowing Keke would soon be home.
“When he didn’t come back home after two weeks, we started looking for him.
“Keke takes chronic medication and since his mum died, he hasn’t been mentally stable.”
Aunt Kagiso Ndlovu (30) said they traced Kekeletso to a house in Ga-Rankuwa, Tshwane, where the gobela’s daughter said their son was undergoing training and the family needed to pay R28 000.
“We were shocked. The gobela has to inform us our child is an initiate and the family must perform an ukuphahla ceremony. If we didn’t bother looking for him, who was going to pay for his training?”
But through SunPower and the CRL, it was arranged that Kekeleto would be returned to his family once he completed his ukuthwasa training in January.
When the SunTeam and the family visited gobela Nduku Azibanjwa, she said: “I apologise for keeping someone’s child and not contacting the family. I understand the family can’t pay, so I’ll pay.”
Nduku said she did this for her spiritual children whose families didn’t have money as they’re a gift from the ancestors.
CRL community council’s Mntimande Ngwenya said: “Before anyone goes for training, there needs to be an agreement between the family and the gobela.”
