Baby safe box vandalized
In the previous incident the mattress, blanket and stuffed animal were stolen from the box
The city of eMalahleni was graced with the Baby Safe Box life-saving initiative from the South African Community Crime Watch (SACCW) a year ago.
While this was a great moment for the city, the joy was dampened after one of the Baby Safe boxes was stolen from for the second time.
On August 23 at 19:00 one of the Baby Safe boxes alerted that the door was opened.
David Wessels from Exactus Risk Management Security Service who monitors the boxes as sponsorship was in the vicinity and attended to the alert.
On arrival, 5 minutes after the alarm sounded, he found the empty vandalized baby safe box.
The load plate had been removed from the sensors and stolen.
Numerous SACCW responders started searching the area for the suspect with the plate.
On questioning some pedestrians they stated that a man with a trolley with cans and steel items went pass the baby safe box at that time and left in a rush direction CBD.
Unfortunately, the suspect could not be found.
“I can’t even imagine that you could get R10 for the load plate at a scrap metal dealer, but to us this means more costs to get the Baby Saver fully functional immediately,” founder of the baby boxes, Maureen Scheepers stated.
This is the second time this same box is targeted.
In the previous incident the mattress, blanket and stuffed animal were stolen from the box.
It was then when they decided to install soft carpet on the load plate to ensure the baby would have a soft surface that wouldn’t be stolen, “now they stole the entire plate with the carpet,” Scheepers explained.
She further added that “if anything happens at a Baby Safe box we have to act immediately to get it back to functioning completely, these boxes save lives and need to be fully operational 24/7, there is no space for error because the error could mean a life. Theft affects all stakeholders that need to do repairs after such incidents.”
If anyone would like to contribute towards the Baby Safe Box initiative they can contact Maureen Scheepers on 082 656 770.
Video: How does this baby safe box work?
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Babybox number three for eMalahleni
