Missing South Africa girl: Our children are scared
By Mohammed Allie
Inside a busy primary school classroom in the South Africa seaside town of Saldanha Bay, one chair is left empty.
This is where six-year-old Joshlin Smith sits – or sat until she went missing in February in a case that has gripped the attention of South Africans.
The huge search operation that involved the navy as well as local volunteers, the big reward and the arrest of her mother have served to make this an irresistible story.
But the community living with its day-to-day reality remains scared.
Saldanha Bay, about 120km (75 miles) north-west of Cape Town, has the reputation of being a tranquil, quaint town known for its fishing, watersports and magnificently colourful wildflowers that bloom in spring in the town’s nature reserve.
Despite the end of apartheid 30 years ago, the spatial planning in Saldanha, like most cities and towns in South Africa, still reflects the inequalities bequeathed by the system of separate and unequal development.
As one enters the town through the business district, the upmarket housing, which includes guest houses and holiday homes, is located close to the coastline.
But when going into the areas of Diazville and Middelpos, which comprise a mixture of low-cost and informal housing, there is a noticeable change.
