Public warned, child almost taken in Mbombela
A young mother is convinced that three strangers tried to abduct her one-year-old son on Sunday.
MBOMBELA – Chivonne Roche said she was at Riverside Mall on Sunday shopping with her son. “It must have been between 12:00 and 12:30 when I went into Ackermans.”
When she was standing in the queue for the till, she noticed that two men were paying her and her son too much attention. “They came uncomfortably close to us. They were just standing around, not buying anything. The one man said my son has beautiful eyes. They asked me where I live and how old my son is.”
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Roche told the men to back off, but they ignored her. The one man started pulling on the strap of her son’s pram. She then went the last till at the end of the store to get away from them, but they followed her.
When she got there, she told the cashier what was going on. The cashier watched the men approach Roche. “He then told me he had pressed the panic button and I must not move until security arrived. I waited and I could see the men were waiting for me to leave. Finally they arrived and the men then left. The security escorted me to my car.”
The following day, Roche contacted the Riverside Mall security. “We went through some CCTV footage and identified the two men and a woman coming out of the shop. I have also gone to the police to open a case.”
Ackerman’s management stated that it had thought the men were attempting to distract Roche to steal her handbag. “We were not sure if their motive was to take the child or her belongings.”
Riverside marketing manager, Beate Dednam said Riverside Mall is aware of an attempted incident which took place in one of their stores.
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“We can confirm that appropriate protocols have been put in place to maintain the well-being of our shoppers, staff, and tenants.”
She said along with the centre’s on-site security team and the SAPS, Riverside Mall worked closely with a skilled third-party tactical team, all of which have been placed on high alert.
“The safety and security of all our shoppers, staff, and tenants, is of paramount importance to Riverside Mall, and we urge you to please contact 013-757-0080 if you are a witness to, or directly affected by the above-mentioned propositions, so that our teams can react with urgency,” she added.
Dednam concluded that the mall was trading as normal.
