A desperate husband requests Mirror readers to help him trace his beloved wife who went missing at the Thohoyandou shopping center on Monday. Mr Nkhumbuleni Mulaisi of Makonde village says he went to buy some groceries with his wife, Grace Mulaisi Mathabi, when she suddenly went missing in town. Nkhumbuleni adds that he is now afraid that his wife might have been kidnapped and he prays for her safety almost every minute.

Grace (46) works as a nurse at Donald Fraser Hospital, outside Thohoyandou.

Nkhumbuleni told Mirror what happened on the fateful Monday: "We boarded a taxi to Thohoyandou, to buy some groceries. At about 10:00, my wife told me that she was going to withdraw some money at the Thohoyandou Post Office. I told her that I was going to see a relative around Thohoyandou and we agreed that we would meet at home, in the afternoon, when she came back with the groceries."

Nkhumbuleni says he went home and waited for his wife but she was nowhere to be found. "I became suspicious when hours went by without hearing anything from her. I tried to call her on her cell phone, but her phone was off. The phone has been off since the day of her disappearance and this brings the suspicion that something might have happened to her. I tried to call her again on Tuesday but her phone was still off. I then tried to locate her with all the relatives, including at her mother’s place at Mavhola village, but she was nowhere to be found. I desperately need her back home, because that is where she belongs."

Nkhumbuleni says his wife was wearing a brown, African, embroided suit when she disappeared. "She was also wearing a white hat and her hair was extended with white pony tail hair extensions. She had black push-in shoes and she was carrying a black handbag. I was supposed to go back to Gauteng where I work, on Tuesday, but I was forced to cancel my trip because of her disappearance."

Insp Nkanukeni Raedani of the Thohoyandou Police says Nkhumbuleni had approached them, but he has not yet registered a missing person’s complaint. "We will start with our investigations as soon as we receive a formal complaint from the complainant," said Raedani.