“When I stopped there, it was 10:30. When his father arrived, it was 11:15. Who leaves a five-year-old alone in a car? Who knows how long that child was in the car? The car was already there when I stopped,” a furious woman, who did not want to be named, told www.mobserver.co.za.

The woman said she immediately called the police to assist.

“The sergeant who answered was not very helpful. At first, she could not hear me, and when I spoke louder, she said I must not scream at her. She wanted all my personal details, and I felt she must just send someone out to help.”

When she saw she couldn’t get any immediate help, she contacted someone at the Traffic Department and also asked a security guard to assist her.

“The person from the Traffic Department could not stay long, and he tried to speak to the child, but the child did not understand him and was very afraid.”

The security guard said he would look for the mother because he thought the child had been left in the car by the mother, but he couldn’t find her. Shortly after the traffic officer left, the father came out and drove off.

“I was too scared to confront him,” the woman said.

• Ms Sandra Rodriques (Midwater Centre Manager) was highly upset when she heard about the incident and said she would look on the CCTV video material for how long the person had left the child unattended in the vehicle.

“We do not allow it, and I presume the security guards did not see when the father climbed out and left the child alone in the car.”

She mentioned that they always confront parents when they leave children alone in vehicles.

“In almost all the instances, they are very aggressive towards us, but you can not leave a child on its own in a car!”

• The matter was also brought to the attention of the police media office. They said that it is not permitted to leave an underaged child in a vehicle alone and that a person can be charged with child neglect.

The media office promised that a press release about the matter would be sent to www.mobserver.co.za.

The press release will be published as soon as it is received.

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