- A Cape Town biker is missing.
- Wonder Hleza was last seen on Tuesday morning when he left for Worcester.
- He and his wife were supposed to go away this weekend but he never returned.
Relatives of a Cape Town motorcyclist are beside themselves with worry after he mysteriously disappeared in the Western Cape this week.
Wonder Hleza, 49, has been missing since Tuesday. His wife Olwethu last saw him that morning before he made his way to Worcester, just before 07:00, to get a temporary driving licence.
On Monday morning, Hleza, a well-known businessman, had delivered a motorcycle to an address in Parow when he was robbed of his wallet, which contained his licences, bank cards and identity documents. It’s understood that he heads a company that transports motorcycles across the country.
He and his wife were supposed to drive to the Eastern Cape on Friday morning for the long weekend, however, he did not return to their Brackenfell home.
The family’s spokesperson, Sonnyboy Msiza, told News24 the family was not doing well.
“We are worried. We are worried because we don’t know what happened to him,” Msiza added.
He said Hleza chose to go to Worcester to get a temporary licence because he thought the queues would be shorter, and he needed the licence urgently because he was going to drive to the Eastern Cape.
“He drove the bike to Worcester and sent me a picture of him filling up the bike at a nearby garage. That was the last time I heard from him. Now, as bikers, we usually don’t travel the same road back home. We will use a different road. It’s just something we do, and Wonder did exactly that on the day he went missing,” Msiza said.
Wonder with his bike crew members.
According to Msiza, bikers use an app called Life360, which tracks someone’s movements and shows which road the last used.
The app indicated that on Tuesday, Hleza used back roads and rode past Riebeek Kasteel on his way back from Worcester to Brackenfell.
“We checked CCTV footage in the area and saw that he definitely did drive past Riebeeck Kasteel and then he ended up in the Durbanville area. So he was in the area, but he never made it home,” Msiza said.
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He added that the family didn’t understand why he rode around in the area, but they assumed that he lost his phone and that he went to check to see if he dropped it along the way.
On Wednesday, a massive search was under way for Hleza.
Msiza said he ended up at a nearby Spar in Uitsig in Brackenfell where they requested CCTV footage.
“He rode into the Spar centre on Tuesday afternoon, he then went to the ATM where he had been sending himself e-wallet money because his bank cards were stolen. He then withdrew the money and went to the Caltex garage in the area and put in petrol and drove out of the centre,” he said.
Msiza said that the footage showed that Hleza did not turn right at the robots to go home. Instead, he turned left towards Malmsbury.
He added:
That blew our minds. We didn’t understand why he turned left when he was just a few minutes away from home. That was the last sighting of Wonder on his bike.
The Cape Town biker was last seen by his wife Olwethu the morning before making his way to Worcester just before 07:00 to get a temporary driving license.
The family said they searched right up to Paarl and Worcester, but there was still no sign of him.
They even checked hospitals, police stations, ambulance records.
“What has been frustrating is that since we logged a case at [the] police, there have been three different investigation officers assigned to the case. No one is keeping us in the loop. We must do our own investigations, and then take them to the police. At one stage, the investigating officer was calling me to find out if we have any more information. It’s been four days now and still no information or sign of Wonder,” Msiza said.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Wesley Twigg said Brackenfell police appealed for public assistance to locate a missing person who was last seen leaving his residence in Sonkring, Brackenfell on Tuesday morning.
Twigg said the person is 1.8 metres tall, bald, has a grey beard and has brown eyes.
“At the time of his disappearance, he was wearing a black riding jacket, black trousers, black motorbike gloves, black and white motorbike helmet, and a red and yellow lucky star buff. He has stitching scars on his hands and legs,” added Twigg.
Hleza has five children and has been a biker for more than 12 years.
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“We don’t know if he was kidnapped, in an accident, or if he’s laying in a ditch somewhere. Right now, we suspect that whoever might’ve robbed him on Monday of his personal belongings may have something to do with the disappearance,” Msiza said.
The family has not ruled out that those who took his wallet may have sold his bank cards, and someone may have called him and told him they have his things and he probably went to get it.
“It doesn’t make sense as to why he would feel the need to fill up the bike in his hometown area which is three to four kilometres from where the garage he was at is, and then took a different route outside of Brackenfell,” Msiza added.
The family is “numb” and fears the worst.
But, Msiza added: “We are hopeful and trusting that he is alive somewhere and will drive up the road soon, we need him back. His kids and wife are beside themselves with worry.”
Anyone who can assist the police with their investigation can contact the investigating, officer Detective Sergeant Mervyn Bezuidenhout, on 079 505 6171/021 983 1968 or call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
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Source by www.news24.com
