The mother of the late Rotondwa Ramaloko (16) from Mukondeni village, who tragically lost her life during an armed robbery at Elim Mall on 8 May this year, is now demanding compensation from the mall. Rotondwa was shot and killed while shopping for school trousers with her mother, stepfather, and siblings.
The unemployed mother, Ms Jennifer Mpakanyani, told Limpopo Mirror that, besides some food and a small tent that Root Butchery had offered them after the incident, they had not received anything from the mall as compensation. "The mall manager made a lot of empty promises, including [offering to contribute] to my daughter's coffin and helping us to purchase a cow, but nothing came from these promises. I demand that the mall compensate me for the death of my daughter on their premises," she said.
Mpakanyani also insists on seeing the CCTV footage of the day her child was killed. "I want to know where the bullet that killed her came from. Whether it was fired by the robbers or the security guards of the cash-in-transit company, so that whoever is responsible can be held accountable."
She said that her daughter's death still grieved her as she had had high hopes that Rotondwa would one day be able to change her situation. "There were rumours going around the community after my daughter was buried that I had given her a phone to take a video during the robbery, which led to her being killed, and this pains me terribly," she said.
Elim Mall's manager, Ms Mpho Madadzhe, denied these claims and said that they had given their full support to the family during the funeral. "We even provided money for building the grave, and in terms of compensation, we are more than willing to assist them where we can," she said.
When asked whether Mpakanyani's request for the CCTV footage would be granted, Madadzhe replied: "It happened during load shedding, so the incident could not be captured on video as the network was too weak."
Madadzhe added that they had conducted a review of security protocols at the mall subsequent to the incident.
A meeting between the mall management and the bereaved family was initially scheduled for 20 September.
The mall team visited the family after this newspaper's interview with Madadzhe, and she asked the family to write a letter outlining their demands, which she said would be escalated to her seniors. The family complied and submitted the letter on Friday, 22 September.