Kempton Park family recalls traumatic incident at Festival Mall

A routine family outing turned traumatic for a Kempton Park couple and their five-month-old son after a recent incident at the Festival Mall.

Jay-Leigh Erasmus and her fiancé, Albert Joubert, were leaving the mall after shopping for their new home when they encountered issues with the mall’s boom gates, preventing e-hailing services from entering.

This forced them to walk to a designated pick-up point, leading to an accident involving shattered glass that injured Joubert and their infant son.

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“We had just finished shopping for baby essentials when the trouble began,” Erasmus recounted.

“The mall was busy, and when we requested an e-hailing service, the drivers told us they could not access the premises due to malfunctioning boom gates. We had to walk to the circle outside the mall to meet them.”

A package with glass items fell and shattered while carrying their groceries and baby in a car seat.

“The shards cut my fiancé and baby,” Erasmus said.

“I had to remove glass pieces from my son’s face while he was bleeding. It was terrifying.”

Joubert described the emotional toll of the incident.

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“When we got home, I saw my son’s face covered in dried blood. It broke me,” he said.

“Now, he’s scared every time we put him in his car seat.”

The couple are frustrated with the Festival Mall management, claiming they initially received no help or follow-up after reporting the incident.

“When I called on Monday, they told me to visit the mall and speak to the operations manager,” Erasmus explained.

“The manager admitted she was unaware of the boom gate malfunction, which I later learnt had been an issue for three days.”

Erasmus said she contacted Lee-Anne da Silva, the mall’s marketing manager, who referred her to the mall’s insurance.

“A week later, the insurance representative told me the mall isn’t liable for the incident and hung up on me,” Erasmus said.

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“We’ve had to repurchase essentials and pay for medical consultations, causing emotional trauma and financial strain.”

In response, Da Silva said they quickly resolved the boom gate issue.

“When the boom gate malfunctioned, which was fixed within five minutes, we promptly coned off the non-operational entrance and deployed security to direct vehicles to functional gates,” Da Silva explained.

She said the mall was not responsible for the incident.

“By their own account, the family accidentally dropped their package,” Da Silva said.

“We regret the inconvenience but cannot be held liable for losses outside our control.”

Da Silva said the mall values customer concerns and communicated regret over the incident.

“However, our communications did not imply fault on the part of management,” she clarified.

The couple remains dissatisfied, arguing that the mall’s handling of the situation lacked accountability.

“As a mother, I understand accidents happen, but my son is only five months old,” Erasmus said.

“This incident wasn’t just about broken glass; it’s about the trauma and financial burden it caused our family.”