How to keep your children safe
The alarming increase in attempted kidnapping of children in Pretoria has parents concerned.
With the recent reports of attempted child abductions in Pretoria, parents need to be extra careful and take precautions.
Rekord recently reported on at least five such attempts at shopping centres.
Most of the children targeted were between eight weeks and five years old.
Special investigator from Safety and Security in SA Mike Bolhuis said anything smacking of an abduction should be reported immediately.
“You do not wait if you think someone wanted to take your baby or if there is some form of abduction, you report it to the police immediately. Any crime should actually be reported immediately.”
Bolhuis said the kidnapping of small children was uncommon. Children were mostly abducted, not kidnapped.
“When children are abducted they are either taken by a known party and when they are kidnapped, they are possibly taken for financial gain,” explained Bolhuis.
He had the following to share;
– Any form of attempted kidnapping or abduction should be reported immediately;
– People should try to distinguish between abduction and kidnapping;
– A kidnapping could be for money, something seldom reported by families;
– Sometimes kidnapped children are allegedly taken out of the country.
He gave the following tips:
– People should always be paranoid;
– Parents should always be on the alert;
– Parents need to prepare and have discussions about such misfortunes;
– When walking, never let your children out of your sight
– Don’t allow your children to go to the bathrooms in shopping centres alone
– Always hold your child’s hand when walking
Another organisation to turn to is People Search And Rescue Unit (Psaru).
Television personality and Psaru ambassador Hykie Berg has been working with the organisation to help find missing people for the past four years.
“I have been working with Psaru for a while now, and together with my organization, Hope in Action, we educate parents on how to overcome the kidnapping and missing children issue,” Berg said.
He said Hope in Action also helped people affected by substance abuse.
“According to Psaru, 81% of people trafficked in SA are white females between the ages of 16 and 24 years,” he said.
Berg warned that recruiters were almost at every big mall. Small children, he said, were probably sold in other countries for a lot of money.
He urged parents to register their children with Psaru so the organisation could easily retrieve that information should the child ever go missing or be kidnapped.
Berg said parents could also register on the Hope in Action website at www.hopeinaction.co.za for more tips to keep their children safe.
Also read:
Three-year-old almost snatched from mother’s arms
Eight-week-old baby almost taken from mother
More attempted child kidnappings
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