Pupils from primary and secondary schools are cautioned to be alert at all times. This comes after the department of basic education, Tshwane South District, released a memorandum recently warning principals to be aware of a possible kidnapping syndicate.
According to the memorandum, it stated that principals are kindly been made aware of a possible kidnapping syndicate operating in the Thaba Tshwane area in Centurion.
The memorandum further stated that the modus operandi of the alleged syndicate is to get information of a particular teacher and approach pupils under the pretense that the teacher sent them to collect the pupils for modelling and principals are therefore requested to urgently alert their pupils of this, as it is not clear if this syndicate is only operating in the Centurion area or not.
Speaking to Agnes Raboshaga, a principal at Olievenhoutbosch Secondary School, she received the memorandum from Tshwane South District about the possible syndicate alert. She told Rekord that they immediately alerted the pupils about the matter and even hosted an event to educate them more about safety, such as not talking to strangers.
“We haven’t heard any reported cases from our school but we are aware of the matter brought to us by the department and we continue to preach safety to our pupils at all times,” said Raboshaga.
Several schools were also contacted to find out if they are aware of the memorandum and some said they were not aware, while others said the principals were not available to comment on the matter.
Rekord also tried to contact the department of basic education but the cell phones of both people contacted were on voice mail. An inquiry has been sent to both Phumla Sekhonyane and Lesego Masemola, both spokespersons of the department of education, and Rekord is still awaiting response.
Police spokesperson Thomas Mufamadi said they have not heard of any reported cases of kidnappings.
