A Gauteng mother is shocked and in disbelief after learning that her daughter, who was supposed to start grade R on Wednesday, is allegedly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after the father took her there without her consent or knowledge.

Yowa Wamuhle Mkhaliphi, 5, does not have a passport, and her birth certificate is held by her mother, Noluthando Mkhaliphi, who has been battling to understand how the child was able to leave the country without documentation.

Mkhaliphi of Ivory Park said Yowa went to her Congolese father, Yannick Lukusa Ilunga, in Randburg on December 17 for the holidays.

This was per the agreement Mkhaliphi and Ilunga had since they broke up after Yowa turned one.

“I just want my child to be brought back to SA and her father to be arrested.”

—   Noluthando Mkhaliphi

Mkhaliphi said she would regularly check up on her daughter through video calls.

“In one instance, I asked my child when she is coming back, and the father said when Jesus comes back.

“On December 31, I tried to reach out to the father to ask when he would bring the child back, but I couldn’t reach him.

“On January 5 he sent me a text that he is back home [in the DRC] and that he would bring her back after six months,” she said.

Mkhaliphi said she failed to understand how her former lover managed to leave the country with their child.

“Yowa does not have a passport, and her birth certificate is with me; even on the certificate, Ilunga does not appear [so] I am wondering what mode of transport they used [to leave the country] because if they flew, they would have been intercepted [at airports] because officials would have wanted documents.

“I also think they forged documents to skip the country,” she said, adding that she still needs to go to the home affairs department to check their records to see whether fraudulent documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, were issued in Yawo’s name, when, and by whom.

I also think they forged documents to skip the country

—   Noluthando Mkhaliphi

Mkhaliphi said after Ilunga told her he was in the DRC, she contacted one of her former husband’s cousins to ask where he was.

“He later called me and told me that Ilunga was in Congo and that even their sister confirmed it.”

Mkhaliphi told Sowetan that on January 6 she went to Randburg, where Ilunga stayed with his wife, and on arrival she found the place empty.

“The neighbours told me that he sold most of his stuff on Facebook Marketplace before he left.”

She said one of their mutual friends told her that Ilunga told them that Mkhaliphi would not see her child until she was 18 and that he was planning to go to Europe with her.

“I believe he would [do that] because even when we were together, he used to tell me that he would never return to Congo because there is no life in Congo.”

Mkhaliphi said she last spoke to her daughter on Saturday evening.

“You could see that she is not okay; she [appeared] to be in fear because there were people in the background, and when I asked when she was coming back, she told me, ‘Daddy said I am not coming back.’

“I just want my child to be brought back to SA and her father to be arrested,” she said, adding that Ilunga’s family seemed to be supporting the abduction of her child.

Ilunga recently changed his TikTok and Facebook accounts to private mode.

Mkhalipi said she approached the international relations department for assistance, but spokesperson Chrispin Phiri told Sowetan that they could not get involved as it was not a diplomatic matter.

“It’s a matter that should be dealt with by law officials and the department of justice,” he said.

Mkhalipi has opened a case at the Ivory Park police station. She also went to the DRC embassy in Pretoria to ask for help with tracking down Ilunga and having her child brought back.

She said she expected to get feedback today.

Sowetan