UCT student’s attempted kidnapping ordeal in Obs

University of Cape Town (UCT) student, Sinalo Wellem, has been plagued by paranoia and forced to relive her fears in nightmares after recently being held at gun point and almost kidnapped in Norfolk Road.

The Social Development student said she now fears visiting Observatory after a recent afternoon trip to St.Peter＊s Square turned into one of the worst days of her life.

"I went to the optometrist at St Peter's and Pick n Pay. On my way back I was going to catch a shuttle from Obs Square residence.

"As I was walking out of St.Peters Square, at the bus stop I noticed that there were two men around me. One was walking in front of me, one was walking behind me," Sinalo said.

Not thinking anything of it, she saw the man walking in front of her stop and drop something at the green litter bin near the Penzance and Main Road intersection, while the man behind her was on his phone.

As she reached the bin, the man behind her suddenly overtook her and picked up a money bag filled with what looked like R50 and R100 notes. "He looked at me and then quickly put it in his pocket. When I got to him, he grabbed my hand and immediately I was shocked, thinking 'What's going on here?'."

According to Sinalo, the man instructed her to follow him so that they could split the money as they had both found it.

When she refused, he got aggressive and pulled out a gun. "I just went blank. Not a single person passed and it just became so quiet at that moment. He told me not to do anything or scream."

She was instructed to cross Main Road with him and walk down Norfolk Road, below Lower Main Road.

"We got down the street and in the middle of the street he took out his gun again and held it in my face. When I looked down the road, there was a black Polo Vivo with two other men inside the car."

A white Polo Vivo then entered the street, drove to where Sinalo stood with the perpetrator holding a gun to her face, reversed and parked at the top of the street. "That is when I realised that this whole thing is connected. Immediately I knew I was going to be kidnapped. All the time I just begged this man to let go of me.

"I don't know if it had something to do with the situation but I was feeling very dizzy and thought I had to do something or I'm going to collapse."

Sinalo eventually mustered up the courage to insist that the man let her go and that she would walk away. "I just found the strength to say I'm leaving. Then he said 'You wouldn't dare' but I insisted. I then just started walking away.

"When I was walking I didn't even feel my legs. I didn't even look back. When I got to the corner of the street the white Polo started driving slowly next to me. But I kept walking."

Sinalo saw a psychologist after the incident because she felt withdrawn and isolated herself from her friends and family.

She reported the incident to UCT's campus security but felt that reporting it to the police would be "useless".

"I feel that the police have failed me so many times in my life. I thought it was so useless for me to go because they'd just ask me for a registration plate and information I did not have."

Sinalo said she was thankful that she was not harmed and managed to escape but living after the incident has been tough. "I'm so scared of doing anything. I always have to ask people to drop me off and pick me up and Uber to places. I no longer feel safe."

Now, seeing a man walking behind or even just on the phone terrifies her.

"I think there should be more police visible, I could have alerted them, but all the way down to that road, there was no one," she said.