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The Bruintjies family and about 25 Parkside residents walked 5km from the Shiloh Church in Parkside to the Buffalo Flats police station to raise awareness about the case of Eudora Bruintjies, who went missing in October 2024.
The marchers, carrying posters and placards bearing pictures of Bruintjies, presented a memorandum to the police in the hope of speeding up the process of finding her.
Bruintjies, 52, was last seen on Friday October 25 leaving her daughter’s house in Parkridge at about 7.30pm.
Community member Lucinda Groep said they were supporting the family, because they wanted to put pressure on the police and the government to solve the case.
“We want them to do more, as they are failing Aunty Dora and her family.
“We have met the police, but they [have] not given us the result we want.”
Groep said they would not be silent until the police took action.
“Our lives matter.”
Members of the National Coloured Congress marched alongside the Bruintjies family.
National NCC convener Desmond Syce said: “The NCC was formulated because of the struggle of the coloured, as we never had a voice.
“We are highlighting the fact that we feel we are being sidelined; we have given the police a memorandum that says what we expect from them.
“They promised to respond to us within 14 days; if they fail to do so, we will come back with bigger crowds because we are tired of being left in the dark and not being taken seriously.”
Bruintjies’ daughter, Monique, who wrote the memorandum, said: “We have been struggling — it has been five crucial months of looking for our mother.
“It is not easy at all, all we want is our mother to come back home, whether she is deceased or alive, we need that closure.”
She sobbed as she spoke. Monique said she had an older sister and two younger brothers, all of whom now lived in Gqeberha.
“I miss her loving hugs and how affectionate she was to us. We miss her so much, our lives are not the same without her.
“It is especially hard not knowing where she is.”
Joseph Jacobs of the NCC said: “We are here to look for a proper outcome, hopefully one that will be positive.
“The lack of intervention from the police is a disservice to us. The family needs an outcome, so they can have closure.
“Eudora was not just a mother to Monique and the other siblings, but to the rest of community.
“It is important for us to support the Bruintjies family, because they feel neglected by the police.”
Daily Dispatch
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