News24 | Finding Eva: Police form task team to track down abducted six-year-old girl

Carlos Rebelo is accused of kidnapping Eva Tembo. (Supplied/Susana Kennedy)

• Police have formed a task team to track down six-year-old Eva Tembo.
• She was allegedly abducted by her mother's employer three months ago.
• Alleged kidnapper Carlos Rebelo contacted News24 to discuss conditions for returning Eva.

The police have formed a task team to help track down Eva Tembo, 6, who was allegedly abducted by her mother's employer three months ago.

The task team was established after News24 approached the police on Wednesday night following an interview with alleged fugitive kidnapper Carlos Rebelo.

Rebelo contacted News24 to discuss his terms for returning the girl to her parents.

News24 was told the police task team would be headed by Gauteng's head of detectives, Major-General Mbuso Khumalo.

The team includes organised crime experts and skilled personnel with experience in hostage negotiations.

Rebelo contacted News24 via email on Tuesday to share his side of the story, which has dominated headlines for weeks.

At his insistence, News24 spoke to him via a WhatsApp call because calls on this platform are difficult to trace.

In the call, he revealed that he would return the child if he got free legal representation to retain custody, and that he wanted the court order reviewed.

READ | 'I have been her anchor': Alleged kidnapper contacts News24 to reveal terms for return of girl, 6

On 12 July, the Children's Court in Johannesburg ordered Rebelo to return Eva to her parents.

He disappeared with the girl on that same day.

On the call with News24 on Wednesday, he said he could not comply with an "uninformed, ill-grounded" court order, which would have exposed Eva to danger. 

"Eva would have vanished in the dust by now and would have endured unspeakable trauma, with her life possibilities and her amazing potential criminally halted," he claimed. 

He believed that he was the only person who "cared and deeply loved" Eva, and what he had done was for her safety.

"I am, since Eva's birth, the person who lives for her well-being and happiness. That is my mission. She chose me, and I embraced the call. I have been raising her and have been taking care of every aspect of her daily life with infinite love," he told News24 on Wednesday. 

He added: 

During the call, at around 12:00 on Wednesday, News24 asked the child how she was.

A subdued-sounding Eva said: "I'm fine."

"How is everything that side?" News24 asked, trying to engage her in conversation.

"Okay," she responded.

"Who are you with?"

"I am with papa," she said.

Rebelo then took the phone and said Eva was usually talkative, but we had disturbed her while she was playing a video game.

Replying to allegations about the illegal adoption, Rebelo said: "They all lie."

Rebelo said he did so, with her parents' knowledge, to "help with school registration and her legal documents".

"I explained to the parents that the adoption would mainly enable me to manage Eva's life by having the legal status that would permit attending to Eva's proper documentation, registering her at school, authorising medical procedures and more," he said.