Boy chased by suspected robber
"If our children are being chased with knives after school, what do we do?"
When the News went to visit Divan Erasmus, 11, after an attempted attack on him on his way home from school, we were pleased to find that he kept on smiling.
On 10 February at around 2.20pm an unknown suspect, described as an older looking black male in a beige overall chased Divan around a block, twice, with a knife in his hand.
“On my way home I noticed someone following me. He pulled out a knife and started to run towards me,” Divan recalled.
“I immediately dropped my school bag and started to run.”
Divan outran the suspect and hid behind a large bush. He said the suspect looked around for a moment, then walked away in the opposite direction.
Then the boy entered his home a mere 50 metres away.
Divan’s mother Beunita Erasmus remembers her son entering their home, out of breath and covered in perspiration.
“I blanked out, I could not process anything,” she said.
The suspect did not take the school bag with Divan’s tablet. Beunita believes he was after a cellphone.
“He does not even have a cellphone,” explained Beunita.
On that particular afternoon Divan’s grandmother was the first to become concerned about his not being home from school yet. However, Beunita reassured her that he most probably was doing homework at school.
“I nevertheless decided to go and look for him and found him entering the front gate as I went outside,” she said.
Beunita emphasised that the community, especially in Kenmare, should wake up to the reality that nowhere is safe and everyone should be on their guard.
“My husband reminds me that one can not live in fear, but I can’t help looking over my shoulder more often,” Beunita admitted.
Laerskool Kenmare was made aware of the incident and instructed the Elect Protect Response (EPR) security company to patrol the school and surrounds in the afternoons.
Beunita said she neither informed the police nor opened a case as she saw no point in it. She at least trusts the Community Policing Forum (CPF) Sector 8 to ensure their safety.
“It goes without saying that my son is not walking home any time soon.”
In the comments section below, tell us how you feel about our children not being safe to walk around freely. Your views are important to us.
