The kidnapping happened outside the school gates as the children were waiting in line to be sanitised and screened.
Councillor Rickey Nair reported to the school within a few minutes after the incident took place as a member of the neighbourhood watch informed him.
“Two men pulled up in a Toyota Yaris, both armed with AK47s. The children were lining up outside the gate and they called the girl. They knew their target,” he said.
It was also reported that the registration plates on the vehicle were fake.
According to Nair, the child is 9-years-old, however, the education department has her listed as age 11.
The kidnappers made contact with the mother
According to Nair, when the incident took place, the mother of the child panicked and went home. It was then that she received a phone call telling her not to call the police or the media.
However, as seen in the Twitter video below, both police and media were already on the case before the mother received the phone call.
Those who witnessed the kidnapping shared
Witnesses and concerned parents stayed at the school and shared what they had seen.
“Her mom was getting her bag out of the boot. The men called the girl’s name and when she looked over they picked her up and put her in the car,” Samantha Khan, a parent, said.
And according to another parent, “There was nothing people could do, the men came with big guns. They told security, ‘F**k off or we’ll shoot you.’”
Counciling available for children and teachers
Other parents stayed at the school to ensure that their own children were safe and okay, as many of them were in the area when the kidnapping took place.
However, the school officials addressed parents and said that they would keep the children until normal time to make them feel safe and to “experience normality”.
Gauteng’s Department of Education said that trauma counselling will be available for the children and teachers who witnessed the kidnapping.
The department’s Steve Mabona said: “We have professionals at the school conducting counselling and they will observe for the entire week because there are those that witnessed the ordeal. We just want to call upon anyone who might have seen something to get in touch with the police.”
