50 days on: search continues for toddler Milano Tlali in Johannesburg South

Two-year-old Milano Tlali has been missing for 50 days after he vanished from outside his family’s block of flats in Glenesk, Johannesburg South on 30 June. The case has attracted national attention and sustained public searches.

What happened

According to accounts in the public record, Milano disappeared while playing with other children outside the flats where he lived with his parents near Glenesk Welfare Park and Wemmer Pan. Emergency teams searched the Wemmer Pan in the hours after the toddler went missing, based on where children said Milano was last seen.

Parents’ differing accounts

Both parents agree they were sitting outside watching Milano when the father went inside to fix appliances and the mother followed roughly 30 minutes later to wash dishes before going out to check on him. The parents’ versions diverge after that: the mother said she checked on Milano once during that half-hour before the later check, while the father has denied any involvement in his disappearance. “I haven’t been in a fight with anyone that would be so bad that they had to take my son,” he reportedly said, adding the family did not have money.

Investigations, investigations and public concern

Advocate Cecil Haynie of Justadvocacy, who is documenting the case, confirmed that circulating voice notes and alleged ransom messages linked to the matter are genuine and said the person who leaked a voice note should be arrested. Police have said only that the matter remains under investigation and have offered little detail on progress.

Community response and support

Community members have questioned how a two-year-old could have reached the nearby dam unaided, and reports from the community about instances of violence and alcohol use involving the mother were cited by Haynie. Two organisations, Hope of People and MTR Responders, have supported the family by distributing posters, delivering food parcels and assisting with the initial search. A private investigator, Wendy Pascoe, has also joined the search.

Calls for police transparency

Eldoradopark ward councillor Juwairiya Kaldine wrote to the station commander at the South African Police Service (Saps) in Moffatview describing 43 days without resolution and demanding a full written account of the investigation. Her letter asks for the investigating officer to be named and for evidence such as CCTV footage and phone records to be preserved.

“Accountability strengthens policing because it allows shortcomings to be identified and corrected,”

she wrote.

Next steps

Haynie said the priority is to have the parents brought in for further questioning to formally clear or implicate them. He appealed to the public to continue sharing Milano’s story so the case does not fade from memory and urged anyone with information to contact Captain Mpiko at JHB Central FCS on 082 370 7654.