Cape Town - The Western Cape Education Department has urged parents to be more vigilant after a 12-year-old boy was reportedly kidnapped by two men while walking home from school and injected with an unknown drug.
The Daily Voice visited Huguenot Primary School in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain on Wednesday where the school governing body chairperson, Abubakr Moosa, said they would not comment “due to the sensitivity of the matter”.
Forced
The Daily Voice then made contact with the boy and his family, who live near the school.
They have asked to remain anonymous.
The boy who is in Grade 5, says he had been walking down Huguenot Avenue in Tafelsig after school on Monday when he was forced into a red Mazda by two unknown men, “one coloured and the other black”.
The boy’s frightened mother says her son remembers the car stinking and being filled with baby clothes.
“When they got him into the car, he said they tried to stab him and because he is bigger than other children his age, he managed to fight back. The knife landed up in the car seat.”
One of the attackers apparently has a 26 gang tattoo on the side of his head, and a scar on his scalp.
Asked how the boy managed to get away, the mother says he was dumped near the Liberty Promenade Mall.
“We were looking for him for hours until an employee at a store at the mall called us to say my son is there,” the mother says.
She says the men injected her son with an unknown substance which made him sick.
“He was vomiting and now we have him on medication. A test has been done and we will be getting the results to see which drugs it was.”
She intends opening a case with police, and has already informed cops about the incident.
Jessica Shelver, the spokesperson for Education MEC Debbie Shafer, says they are aware of the incident.
“Huguenot Primary was informed by the parents of a Grade 5, learner that was reportedly abducted, drugged and assaulted while walking home from school on Monday afternoon.
“The learner reportedly was able to get away and ran to the nearby mall where his parents were alerted. The learner has reportedly received medical attention and the matter has been reported to the police. We will be providing counselling as required.”
The department is appealing to police to step up patrols during the morning and afternoons when learners are travelling.
“We also urge parents and community members to be extra vigilant and to report any suspicious vehicles or persons immediately to the SAPS,” adds Shelver.