Family drama or abduction? Man claims mother-in-law ‘kidnapped’ his children

Mthokozisi Ncube

A South Africa-based man has accused his mother-in-law of “kidnapping” his two daughters and taking them to Zimbabwe — but she has dismissed the claims as “nonsense”.

More Mugwagwa, who lives in KwaThema, Gauteng, claims the incident happened on 23 January 2026, while he was at work.

He alleges that his mother-in-law, Shelly Munoma Ndoro, travelled from Zimbabwe with accomplices and took the children back to Harare without his consent.

At the time, Mugwagwa said his wife had travelled to Zimbabwe to visit her mother — but has not returned to South Africa since.

He said the children were aged eight and 13, adding that he was their legal guardian while their mother was away renewing her passport.

“I am the legal parent of my children since my wife was away. She promised to return, but before that, my mother-in-law came and took the children without my consent,” he said.

Mugwagwa claims the children were taken from KwaThema in Springs, Gauteng, and transported to Zimbabwe, where he believes they are now living in Budiriro, Harare.

He also alleged that his wife had previously struggled with mental health issues and had been receiving psychiatric treatment in South Africa, adding that even their church community was shocked by the developments.

“Even the pastor was amazed that my wife would do something like that,” he said.

However, when contacted for comment, Ndoro strongly denied the allegations, questioning how a grandmother could be accused of kidnapping her own grandchildren.

“Have you ever seen a mother kidnap her children? Where did you see such a nuisance?” she said, before declining to comment further.

A neighbour from KwaThema, who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggested the situation may stem from ongoing family disputes.

“The mother-in-law once took the children after a fight between Mugwagwa and his wife. This time, she took them for good,” said the neighbour.

The neighbour added that Mugwagwa had previously complained about the children being taken without his consent.

Further claims suggest that Ndoro allegedly attempted to transfer one of the children to another school, but was unable to do so for the second child due to a lack of legal guardianship documents.

Mugwagwa insists the matter should be treated as a criminal case.