By Neelam Rahim

The MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape has praised the efforts of a neighbourhood watch group that helped find missing Capetonian Shireen Essop.

Shireen Essop’s face had been shared over the internet since she was reported missing on 23 May after her car was found abandoned with no trace of her.

Social media users have been singing the praises of Klipfontein’s neighbourhood watch members, who recognised her at a garage and were pivotal in getting Shireen home. There are no thanks to the police; she reportedly asked for help.

According to a video interview by IOL, the neighbourhood watch members were helping another woman when Shireen was spotted, reportedly trying to get help from police officers at the BP petrol station on Klipfontein extension road.

The Klipfontein NHW member Dean Esau recalled overhearing Essop ask a police officer to use their phone to call her husband as she’d been kidnapped. Still, she was ignored, as per eNCA.

In a statement released Saturday morning, the family said: “Words alone cannot express our heartfelt appreciation for being in your thoughts and hearts during these dark hours. Your support and continuous prayers have given us the strength to remain positive and hopeful that the Almighty will guide her safely back home to us.”

While the details of Essop’s kidnapping remain murky, multiple reports indicate that she was let go by her kidnappers, who had held her hostage in Khayelitsha.

IOL reports that a source claims that a ransom was paid but that Essop wasn’t the intended person. Her case is undergoing investigation.

The return of Shireen has now caused an uproar as residents demand an explanation for her disappearance.

GBV activist and community leader Roegshanda Pascoe said: “With Shireen Essop, the community mobilised themselves, the community went out there, they put pressure on police to find her, at least what the family can do is explain.