Unwarranted photographs create concern
The woman then took out her phone and the little girl immediately ran away.
Michele Nicklaus had more questions than answers after an incident at the beach left a major call for concern to all parents and guardians.
Nicklaus and her family are from Johannesburg, but visit the South Coast often as her father is a resident here.
While enjoying a relaxing day at St Michael’s beach last week, she witnessed a group of women trying to photograph children on the beach.
Nicklaus shared her accounts of what occurred, in hope that it would serve as a warning to others.
She remembers seeing a little girl playing in the sand, when two women approached the girl and began touching her hair and legs while sitting next to her.
Nicklaus noted that the little girl looked uncomfortable.
“The girl’s father was sitting under the gazebo watching her, but for that brief minute that the incident happened he probably wasn’t looking,” she said.
The woman then took out her phone and the little girl immediately ran away.
Nicklaus and her son later went into the water when she noticed the same group of women sitting on the beach.
“One woman then approached a little boy, pulled him to the side and took a picture with him,” she said.
Luckily, his mother saw what happened and made the woman delete the picture.
Meanwhile, Nicklaus herself fell victim to a similar incident at the beach in Hibberdene last Friday.
After taking a phone call, she was returning to her husband, Kyle Coates and their son when she noticed two women and a man taking pictures.
She did not think much of it until the man photographed her.
“It was obvious that he took a picture of me because I saw the flash go off. ”
Her husband confronted the man and a bystander alerted a nearby policeman as to what happened.
The man was forced to open up his phone and the pictures of Nicklaus were there.
The intentions of this event are still unclear and Sergeant Sibu Ncane, Margate Saps corporate communication and liaison said that no official complaints of this nature have been lodged.
He advises parents and guardians to keep at least three arm lengths from strangers and strangers’ cars.
“You must know where your children are at all times. Do not let your children wear clothing or carry items that bear their names in public. It makes it too easy for a stranger to approach them,” he added.
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