By Buziwe Nocuze
- Armed criminals grab babies from mothers and threaten to shoot them unless women hand over phones and money.
- Desperate criminals even check babies’ diapers looking for hidden valuables.
Mothers taking their babies to Mzamomhle Clinic in Philippi Browns Farm, Cape Town, are being robbed on their way to and from the clinic.
The suspects forcefully take babies from their mothers, point guns at them, and order the mothers to hand over everything.
A mother, speaking anonymously, is still traumatised after a car stopped next to her.
“I was on my way back from the clinic; the car had three males inside, and two got out while the driver remained inside. One of them showed me a gun and asked for my phone. While I was still shocked, they grabbed my baby and ordered me to hand over my cellphone and money, or they would shoot the baby,” said the mother.
She gave them everything because she feared they might shoot her baby.
“We are not safe from these criminals, and I don’t know how they know the exact times that we leave the clinic, but they are always on time. We fear that one day, they will finally shoot our babies, as we don’t have anything to offer them,” said the resident.
Namhla Cakwe said these criminals also check their kids’ diapers.
“If you have nothing valuable in the bag, they even check the babies’ diapers for hidden items like phones and money. They think our babies wear extra diapers just to hide stuff from them, but that’s not the case; we don’t do that,” said Cakwe.
These mothers think the only thing that will save them from these criminals is police visibility.
“We are traumatised. The image of your baby being pointed at with a firearm is horrible, and we know how criminals are; one day, they will shoot our babies. We need police visibility to save us and our kids from these heartless criminals who only care about money,” said Cakwe.
Melikhaya Gadeni, Ward 35 councillor, said there will be a closed-circuit television camera installed not too far from Mzamomhle Clinic.
“The camera will monitor areas in and around the clinic,” said Gadeni.
Pictured above: A mother and her baby.
Image source: Pexels
