The management of Canal Walk shopping centre has slated a Cape Times’ report on the robbery of a pregnant woman, saying the article was exaggerated. An employee at Bride and Co was attacked in the car park and pulled away by robbers in a getaway car on Tuesday. The woman was apparently walking in the parking area on her phone when a mugger grabbed her cellphone. The Cape Times described the incident as “the latest in a string of incidents at the shopping mall.”

While expressing their sympathy for the victim, Canal Walk Centre Management claims that the coverage of the story by newspaper was “sensationalist”.

“Whilst crime is an unfortunate part of daily life in this country and shopping centres are not immune to this, we believe the headline used by the Cape Times to be inappropriate and unacceptably sensationalist, given the facts of the incident,” said the centre’s marketing manager Vanessa Herbst.

Twenty two year old Tasneem Essa registered a common robbery case at about 15:52pm on Tuesday.

“An unidentifiable male came from behind and grabbed her cellphone. He then ran away. No arrests have been made as yet,” said Milnerton SAPS media liaison Fredrick Van Wyk.

Essa ran after the man and managed to grab his arm when he broke free and pulled her into his vehicle where he was accompanied by four other people. Being half way in the fleeting vehicle, she broke away pushing herself out and falling to the ground. She injured her arm and leg, which resulted in bruising.

There were no witnesses around when the incident occurred. However people exiting the building saw her and assisted her afterwards.

Canal Walk centre management and security are working closely with the SAPS who are conducting the investigation. The shopping centre reassures shoppers that their number one priority is to ensure the safety of their shoppers.

“We can assure all of our 22 million shoppers a year that their safety is our first priority and we have extensive security measures in place,” said Herbst.

Detailed footage from CCTV and other information has been handed to the investigators. Investigations are still underway. VOC (Nailah Cornelissen)