Together after 45 years apart

THROUGH a twist of fate and with the help of modern technology, two siblings have found each other after four decades.

For 45 years, Fourie “Prince D” Mfiki and two other siblings lived in the Eastern Cape and parts of Johannesburg while his sister, Grietjie Davids, was in the Cape with his mother, Elizabeth Davids, and another brother and sister.

It was thanks to Trackn Trace that Prince and Grietjie were put in touch in June, but they met face to face for the first time only this week.

Prince is now in Sir Lowry’s Pass spending some time with his long-lost sister.

In 1976, Prince’s father, Bobby Mfiki, planned to leave the Western Cape temporarily for the Eastern Cape, where he would work in construction as a driver.

But when Bobby and his three children arrived at the site, which would also become their home, he became ill with tuberculosis and urgently needed surgery.

Prince was forced to look after his siblings while his father tried to communicate with his wife back home. He received no word.

Prince had to leave school and worked on a potato farm to help his father make ends meet.

“I went to work on a potato farm in Mpumalanga and I earned R1 a day.”

In 1979, Prince returned to school. However, his father could not return to work, due to poor health.

Soon after leaving school, Prince managed to secure work in the security industry, which took him to Johannesburg, and he always wondered about his mother and siblings.

“When my father met my mother, she already had three children, which included Grietjie. I always had this yearning to know where my family is.”

Sadly, in 1989, just 10 years after leaving Cape Town, Prince’s father died. Prince continued to work and eventually got married and pursued a career in music, which earned him the nickname “Prince D”.

A friend encouraged him to speak to Trackn Trace earlier this year. Prince then in-boxed the Trackn Trace member via Facebook and was immediately assisted.

“When I contacted Trackn Trace, they helped me immediately and said it is a story to be told,” he said.

And in a twinkle of an eye, the team located Prince’s sister and he was put in contact with her.

“I couldn’t believe it, how quickly they had found my family. They said ‘Prince, we have found your family, your sister’,” he said.

“I was then placed in contact with my sister’s daughter and managed to speak to my sister on the phone. We exchanged photographs and we saw how everyone had grown.”

But when preparations were made with the assistance of Trackn Trace for the two to meet, the country went into lockdown, restricting travel between provinces.

Prince also became newly employed and later Grietjie and her family became ill with Covid-19.

Last week, Prince decided he would not wait any longer and landed in Cape Town on Monday.

“I said, ‘I need to see my sister’, I was so grateful to the team for helping me find her,” he added.

“I cannot describe how I feel and these people are genuine when they set out to help people. I am just grateful that I found her.”

Grietjie said her mother had died a few years ago and that she was over the moon to have her brother back in her life.

“I am very happy to have him here with me,” she said.

Trackn Trace national liaison officer Leigh Kortjie said Trackn Trace was founded by advocate Venice Burgins to highlight the plight of missing persons.

Kortjie said the aim of the organisation was to find missing people.

“Another case we solved, a man aged 68, he had Alzheimer’s, and in April 2021, I sent his flyer around in a particular area and the police station. He was found later that week, sitting in front of a supermarket.”

She said every case was different and they enjoyed their work.

“We have a passion and love for what we do. For me, it is a feeling that you cannot put into words when you find a person alive and to reunite with their family. As a team, we grow day by day and we put our all into it.

“In the case of Prince, he was part of a Khoisan group where our national co-ordinator was part of the same group and he mentioned it to her. The information was shared with us and we immediately got to work on it. That Sunday morning by God’s grace, I tracked down Prince’s niece and he spoke to his sister.”