Abduction attempt claims spark fears

Police urge caution, but say no cases confirmed

UNCERTAINY persists over the validity of rumours that the occupants of two vehicles have tried to abduct children in and around Mlungisi.

Social media was abuzz this week with rumours that the occupants of a white minibus, with a CA registration number, and a white Avanza had, on different occasions, tried to lure children into vehicles.

No abductions were reported to the police, but police spokesman cap- tain Namhla Mdleleni urged caution while police were investigating the claims. Mdleleni said two incidents had been reported to the police.

“On June 6, we received a report that two boys who live in Mlungisi, were approached by the driver of a white Toyota Quantum.

“In the first incident, a 10-year-old boy who had been sent to a shop was allegedly approached by a car and the occupant offered to take him to a place where there were other children, before threatening to kill his mother,” Mdleleni said.

She said in the second incident another boy, aged 13, reported that he was allegedly approached by the occupants of the same car while playing with other children in a park.

Mdleleni said the boy told police that the other children told him to run away. The boys had not reported the matter to their parents but to their school which, in turn, had informed the police.

Mdleleni said despite “lots of talk”, no parents had approached the police and no case or police report had been opened.

A police officer who spoke to The Rep on condition of anonymity said police had been fielding about five calls a day to report the location of the suspicious vehicles, but had been unable to find either.

Members of the community have been praised for their cooperation, with Mdleleni urging parents to remain vigilant without becoming paranoid.

Parents should pick up their children from school on time and not drop them off before school opens.

“Recently we had a case of a six-year-old from Cacadu who, instead of walking to school in her village, got on to a bus to Komani. Luckily people in the bus knew which village she came from and she was reunited with her family,” Mdleleni said.