Kidnapped son never to hug mom

Update

GEORGE NEWS - Twelve Christmases without her darling son.

Twelve years since five-year-old Mohamed Orif was kidnapped by his Egyptian father in 2011, Baranese Orif (56) from Rosemoor would at long last have had a chance, this year, to hold him in her arms again.

In the most tragic turn of events, this will never happen, because Baranese Orif's memorial service took place last weekend.

The now 18-year-old Mohamed reached out to his mom about 18 months ago, and planned to spend Christmas with his family here in George.

However, Baranese was diagnosed with breast cancer in February this year. The cancer spread rapidly and caused her untimely death on 28 November.

Family and friends mourned her passing with a memorial service held on 9 December at the St Paul's Anglican Church.

Baranese's brother, Randall Raubenheimer, her sisters, Cathleen Raubenheimer and Moira Fourie, as well as her daughter - Mohamed's sister - Taryn Booysen, granted George Herald an interview in which they recounted the course of events.

Mohamed Orif (18) currently lives with his dad's mother in Egypt. He plans to study engineering.

Last words

On Sunday 26 November, Mohamed had his last chat with his mom, before her death two days later. All attempts to organise an emergency passport in the months before her death have failed, since it would have meant that Mohamed had to travel through Gaza to South Africa, which is not possible with the war raging between Israel and Palestine.

For a normal passport the waiting period is about six months when you apply in Egypt, said Taryn. "It is also really expensive."

On Mohamed's request, the family organised the live streaming of Baranese's funeral. It was shared to family members only.

A call from Egypt

In the middle of last year Baranese received a call from her estranged husband's friend, asking her about her son. "He was testing the waters for Ibrahim [Mohamed's father]. He wanted to make sure my mom won't call the police when she finds out where they are," said Taryn.

"My mom assured him she won't, she just wanted to talk to Mohamed. A day later Ibrahim called, and my mom spoke to Mohamed. It is difficult, though, because Mohamed now speaks mostly Arabic. His English is not fluent, and Ibrahim needs to translate a lot. Mohamed also gets frustrated when he struggles to express himself. But, they communicated very often. Sometimes just a few words, at other times they would video call."

Taryn and her brother also communicate on WhatsApp. The difficult questions have not really been dealt with. "His father is always there," said Taryn. "I am quite sure he started to ask about his mother as he got older. That is possibly the reason why Ibrahim made contact again."

The story of Mohamed's kidnapping made the headlines back in 2011.

Looking back

Taryn can clearly remember the day she returned alone to George, after a visit to Port Elizabeth with her brother.

"He was supposed to come back with me. He was visiting his dad, and I went to see other people. I was in my early twenties, and he was in Grade R. It was the July school holidays and he went to visit his dad in PE. His dad asked if he could stay longer, and my mom said it's fine, he can stay another week. The time came and went that he was supposed to come back. He never came."

Both Mohamed's aunts, who were in Port Elizabeth at the time, went to check what's going on. "The landlady said to me Ibrahim gave notice and had left a week before. He sold all the furniture," said Cathleen. "He knew exactly what he was doing. He planned it all."

According to the family, Ibrahim had close connections at Home Affairs. It was later established that Ibrahim managed to fly out of the country with Mohamed on 15 August 2011, with an alleged fraudulent visa document. In an earlier interview in 2018, Baranese said her signature on the document, with which she has supposedly given concent, was clearly forged.

The story of Mohamed's kidnapping made headline news back in 2011. Over the years the family tried to spot him on social media. "He is now on Facebook, but back then we checked in vain," said Taryn.

Sitting on the same couch as their sister, five years ago holding a photo of her son, Baranese Orif's brother, sisters and daughter treasure a photo of her, taken at a family wedding. From left are Randall Raubenheimer, Moira Fourie, Taryn Booysen and Cathleen Raubenheimer. Photo: Michelle Pienaar

Going forward

Taryn said her brother is finishing school this year and has enrolled for a degree in engineering, in Egypt. He is looking very good. "We can see that he has been well looked after," she said. "He is staying with his grandmother, his dad's mom, and doesn't see his dad every day. We don't doubt that he is being cared for, but Ibrahim had no right to take him from my mom. He never once told her he is sorry for what he had done. "

Randall Raubenheimer still hopes to "bring Mohamed home" one day. "For now, I am focused on the funeral," he said last Friday. Moira is very certain that her sister's death was brought on by constant heartache for her son.

"So often she would talk to me about her broken heart, over the years, saying how much she was missing her child. I told her God would ensure that she will have contact with him again."

From Egypt, with love: 18-year-old Mohamed reached out to his mom about 18 months ago.