Mense have been urged not to share unverified social media posts following a deadly mob justice attack in Parkwood.
This after a man was killed on Tuesday on the suspicion that he wanted to kidnap a child.
It has now emerged he was an innocent Bolt driver transporting two passengers.
The 31-year-old man from Dunoon was battered to death and set alight along with his Toyota Avanza, while his passengers managed to escape.
Speaking to the Daily Voice, Grassy Park police station commander Colonel Dawood Laing said investigations revealed no proof of an attempted kidnapping and the community was on edge following unconfirmed reports on social media of kidnappings.
He said detectives questioned the security guard and a nurse at the clinic where the attempted abduction supposedly took place.
However, no evidence was found of any kind of kidnapping.
“This is mass hysteria caused by social media and the spreading of fake news. We are just as worried about kidnappings, but if you look at the actual reported cases, you will see it’s not near as many as reported on social media,” he said.
In May, at least six cases of alleged kidnapping or near-abduction incidents have been reported.
The latest victims are Shireen Essop from Manenberg, two-month-old Kai-Isha Meniers from Bishop Lavis, sisters Kimberly, 21, and Vanessa Mubaiwa, 19, from Muizenberg; and Milleston Sass and her friend claimed they were almost abducted by their e-hailing taxi-driver in Elsies River.
Last Tuesday, Mieshka Achmat, 25, from Parkwood, said two men in a white vehicle tried to snatch her while walking to work.
With communities on edge, the chairperson of the Mitchells Plain Cluster Community Police Board, Rafique Foflonker, urged residents to “let common sense prevail” and not accept and share unverified reports on social media.
“Imagine you are arguing with your young child in the street and you need to force them into the car to go home, or to school, or to church.
“Then, someone shouts ‘kidnapping’. You could be in a lot of trouble. Imagine if your child did this to spite you,” he said to IOL.
Western Cape Missing Persons Unit (WCMPU) chairperson Candice van der Rheede says: “The majority of these alleged incidents are not reported because you get those people who make up stories and it’s pretty hard because they create paranoia and panic and chaos.
“At the end of the day, our communities are outraged because they feel SAPS and the justice system is failing them so much that they are prone to take the law into their own hands, it is really scary.
“The amount of posts have increased and we can’t even say that this is a syndicate because all the posts are unconfirmed. We don’t know which incidents happened.
“The tip I can give to women is that they could practise self-defence, firearm self-defence, defensive driving and road safety.”
Community Safety MEC Reagan Allen says the number of kidnappings has actually decreased.
“The crime statistics for the last three quarters of the 2021/22 financial year indicates that between April and June 2021, there were 246 incidents of kidnappings, July to September 234 incidents and October to December 219 incidents.
“I’ve noted recent reports about these incidents, and they are truly concerning. At this stage it is unclear who these individuals are and if it can be referred to as a syndicate.”
According to police spokesperson, Captain FC van Wyk, they investigate missing persons and kidnappings with the necessary priority and sensitivity that are afforded to serious cases.
“Every endeavour is made to reunite the victim with his or her family. It is on this basis that the finer aspects of these cases cannot be shared on an open platform.”