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Residents in Eersterust are on high alert after an attempted kidnapping of a 55-year-old woman.
Rozelle Copper said she was on her way home from a spaza shop at about 6.35pm. “I tried to cross the road from the shop on Frank Adams Street and noticed a white car slowly approaching from Steenkamp Avenue. So I waited for the car to pass so I could cross the road,” she recalled.
But having lingered long enough for Cooper to suspect a red flag, the white car passed but suddenly reversed. “The two guys gave me the scariest and lustful look I’ve ever seen,” she said.
After a brief moment, she decided to run back to the shop.
“I screamed at the top of my lungs, until one of the boys at the shop came and assisted me. Other residents came out of their houses,” she said.
The vehicle, which had one passenger, sped down Saint Joseph Street when its occupants saw people coming out.
Cooper, who has three grandchildren, said she had been paranoid since then and insisted on taking and fetching her grandchildren to and from school.
Asked why she thought it wasn’t just an attempted mugging, she replied: “Those stares they gave me resemble a kid seeing a present, plus mixed with lust. It might not have been kidnapping, I don’t know, but it definitely was not something good.”
Meanwhile, Ga-Rankuwa police have warned young girls to avoid any free wi-fi hot spot. According to spokesperson Captain Matthews Nkoadi, there were criminals lurking in these spots who forced young girls into their cars and drove away with them.
“They are then raped and left stranded,” he said. “All the victims were targeted at wi-fi hot spots.”
Nkoadi said most of the girls were minors and therefore declined to divulge details of any cases.
“It is for this reason that we are warning parents or community members not to allow children to roam around wi-fi hot spots unmonitored.”
According to Bianca Van Aswegan from Missing Children, it is never too early to teach children about safeguarding themselves against the possibility of kidnapping.
Van Aswegan said parents should also keep an eye on their children’s social media activity.
“Parents need to be more vigilant of their surroundings, especially in public places and of course they always say safety starts at home.
“We need to educate our children from a young age on how to keep themselves safe.”
The police also urged members of the public not to share bogus information about kidnappings.
The comment was sparked by a video that went viral on social media platforms about an alleged kidnapping in Klerksdorp.
“Preliminary investigations conducted after police management in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District became aware of the video, showed that no such incident was reported in Klerksdorp,” the SAPS said.
North West police commissioner Lieutenant-General Sello Kwena urged the public to verify the legitimacy of crime-related videos and voice notes with the police before forwarding them.
