Mayhem at Midway Mall
2008-04-02
Lise Beyers
THE safe shopping haven for Mbekweni and Newton residents, Midway Mall, is turning into a nightmare for local residents. The centre, which is almost two years old, brought much relief to the area on completion, due to the fact that residents previously had to travel to either Paarl or Wellington to shop. But Newton residents are now slowly returning to their old shopping habits, due to the fact that they have become victims of muggings and theft at the centre. The latest victim from Newton is a 17-year-old scholar, Stacey Didloff. Stacey went to Midway Mall at 12:00 on Sunday afternoon to buy some groceries for her grandmother. “As I entered the Mall’s gate, I saw a boy sitting on a bin staring at me. This made me uncomfortable,” recalls a highly emotional Stacey. “I however went on to do my shopping, but when I again passed through the gate, the same boy attacked me. “Three other boys joined him and they threw me to the ground. “One of them sat on top of me, held my mouth shut and said that if I screamed he would kill me. After harassing me they grabbed my cellphone and disappeared.” Three days after the incident, Stacey is still highly traumatised by the attack, and she says that she has nightmares every time she closes her eyes. “There were lots of other people in the vicinity and nobody came to help me. I was so scared that they would try to rape me. “Even the security guards who were close by, did nothing.” A neighbour of Stacey’s, Abelia Lawrence, says that these types of attacks are taking place on a regular basis. “More and more residents of Newton have become victims to crime at the centre. And all of this takes place in the middle of the day and in full view of security guards. “We were very grateful when the shopping centre was built, but many of us now feel that we must do our shopping in safer havens such as Paarl and Wellington.” Lawrence says that she is going to assist Stacey’s family in pursuing the matter legally. “The management of the mall should take responsibility for these attacks, because as their clients, they should be held responsible for our security.”
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