Heroes of Lotus River: Two men foil child kidnapping attempt

Two Lotus River men were hailed as heroes when they stopped the attempted kidnapping of a girl from Phumlani Village.

Rudy Roman and Faanie Olivier decided to take the long route home after visiting friends in Phumlani Village on Monday and never imagined their detour would end with rescuing a five-year-old girl from a horrible fate.

Roman told the Cape Argus' sister publication, the Daily Voice that he was walking halfway with his friend Olivier, to his home in Blesbok Road, Lotus River when the drama unfolded.

As the pair were walking, they noticed a little girl being held by a man, who called asked them for help.

Roman explained: “This girl was pleading with us ‘uncle help please, uncle help please’. Faanie got this guy in-between Rietbok Road and 6th Avenue and as I approached this guy I asked him whose child this is. But he couldn’t answer me.

“We asked the girl if this guy is her daddy and she said ‘no’.

“He said leave me and take the child and I told him I’m not going to leave him. This guy was shocked and he told her she’s sorry and he just wanted to escape from us. 

“He was coming out of Phumlani thinking that no one would notice him.”

The men then sought the assistance of a friend for a vehicle and gave the suspect a goeie pak slae (gave the suspect a beating) before taking him to Grassy Park police station.

The community reckons the suspect could be involved with the disappearance of Anovuyo Oncke, 8, who has been missing since September 7.

Roman added: “If we take him back to Phumlani, the people might kill him and I didn’t want that. 

“I wanted him to talk and say where the other child Anovuyo is, because it is possible that he could have been involved with her disappearance.”

After the suspect and the child were taken to the police station, the victim was taken back home to her parents in Phumlani Village.

The mother thought her daughter had been playing in front of their gate but she was found about 15 minutes’ away from the informal settlement.

Roman added that he could only thank God that they were at the right place at the right time.

He said: “I can only thank the Lord that he used us to save that child’s life, because ons kan ‘n ander pad geloop maar ons het ‘n lank pad gevat (we could have taken another route). We are just glad that we could save a child’s life.”

Police spokesperson Constable Ndakhe Gwala confirmed that a 41-year-old man was arrested for kidnapping in Lotus River.

Gwala said: “He will appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s court [on Wednesday] on the mentioned charge.”

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