A high level of organisation and planning, a seemingly traceless trail and clouding confusion surrounding motive after no ransom calls have been made are just some of the elements that make the current missing persons’ cases of the Moti brothers. It’s a case that has rocked South Africa, writes Cape {town} Etc’s Ashleigh Nefdt.
The kidnapping and what is known so far.
On October 20, four young brothers, now headlined ‘Moti brothers’, were on their way to school in Polokwane, Limpopo when chaos struck.
Alongside the road near the N1 bypass, their driver’s BMW was met with two vehicles carrying seven armed men. The children were forcefully removed from their car, bundled and taken, leaving their driver behind, unharmed.
The suspects were allegedly armed with R5 rifles and handguns, and a grey SUV profiles the getaway vehicle, as per IOL.
The boys cellphones were dumped in the veld strategically. Zayyaad (11) Alaan (13) Zia (15) and Zidan (6) are now missing persons’.
The uproar on social media.
Since Wednesday, social media has been alight trying to raise awareness and bring the boys home, with the hashtag #motibrothers trailing through Twitter and Instagram.
Calls for unity through prayers went out on Friday where Change Agent Catherine Constantinides, a former Miss Earth South Africa, called for locals to stand together in prayer, expressing that “these are not just four children of a family from Polokwane, these are OUR children as a nation.”
Premier of Limpopo Chupu Stanely Mathabatha has expressed that “as the provincial government, we are appalled by these ruthless deeds and we shall not rest until these criminals face the wrath of the law.”
Why did this event stir locals when we are a country so doused in crime?
Now the cynical reader might wonder why this particular case has caught the attention of so many and caused a massive uproar when we have so many crime-drenched incidents happening daily in our country. Here are some elements to consider.
According to reports from the Department of Statistics South Africa related to victims of Crime, the top categories for individual crime experienced in the past five years have been: theft, street robbery, assault excluding sexual assault, consumer fraud, hijacking and sexual offences.
What this expresses statistically about the profile of the Moti brothers’ case is that in the web of crime that SA sees, something so swift, “highly organised” as crime expert Guy Lamb indicated to News24, and non-conventional to our typical and trending crimes, is an outlier.
Experts on crime have expressed that what appears to be a highly suspicious crime like this against the vulnerable would usually be derived from a monetary desire, and so a ransom call was initially expected.
The Moti family lawyer believes that the motive was ransom money according to YOU. Given that the children’s parents, Nazim and Shanka Moti, are prominent businesspeople in Polokwane, with the father being a wealthy businessman in the motor industry for over 20 years, this motive would make sense. However, no ransom calls have been made thus far. In a work titled Ransom Kidnappings experts highlight that usually in a predatory crime case, ransom demands are made soon.
Why are crimes against vulnerable groups like women and children persisting in SA?
The civilian perspective is largely one of mass frustration. With all the gender-based violence movements sweeping through our country, one must wonder why crimes of this nature are in perpetuation.
Read also: Gender-based violence remains a pandemic in SA
In speaking to a Children’s Protection Officer a part of the UNICEF SA division (United Nations Children’s Fund), a source told Cape {town} Etc that the increase in violence against children and women has been on the rise, despite gender-based-violence movements in our country.
A reason for this, according to the source, is largely to do not with the execution by means of law-enforcements. “Every child matters,” they expressed, but there isn’t a cop for every child, and a degree of sensitivity training needs to be more present in our police force so that more cases beyond the ones that spiral headlines can be dealt with efficiently.
Additionally, the civilians might also consider that the regular perpetuators of most of the crimes in our country do not operate within the same spheres that exist in our first-world social media paradigms.
Additionally, we have to consider the volume of crimes that occur in our country. The responsibility cannot be placed on the shoulders of civilians raising awareness alone.
However, when a case does sit in the hearts of a country, a force to be reckoned with is hopefully ignited.
Anyone with information regarding the Moti brothers case has been urged to contact the investigating officer, Captain Ntlane Rasedile, on 082 565 8566 or Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
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Stellenbosch student attacked at gunpoint, shares story to raise awareness
Picture: Facebook