A Terenure resident and her mother were attacked and almost raped at Groenkloof Nature Reserve in Pretoria on Saturday.
One of the attackers who had been arrested, Isheanesu Shiri (24), briefly appeared in court on Tuesday and will remain in custody.
Taschia Slabbert (25) and her mother, Melissa (48), visited the reserve as Taschia wanted to take photographs for a competition with her new camera.
Slabbert spoke to EXPRESS on Tuesday morning explaining the horrid details of the incident.
“We were about two kilometres into the hike when my mom stopped and said someone was following us. When I turned around two men came running towards us,” said Slabbert.
“We thought it were people who were trying to pass us and stepped aside. The next moment we were on the ground and the men started stabbing us with knives.”
Slabbert said a third man kept a look-out.
The men forcefully tried to take their belongings but Taschia fought back and kicked one of the men between the legs before he could stab her in the neck.
“I got so aggressive at one stage because I had my camera around my neck. In the struggle to get the man off me, he broke my camera. To me it is my little piece of gold. I mean, it is worth R33 000.
“When they started pulling down my pants, I gave them the goods they wanted so they would leave us alone. They would have raped us,” said Taschia.
Her mother was stabbed in the head, neck and right arm while she sustained a minor stab wound to the neck and multiple bruises over her whole body.
“We even have bruises under our feet from running over rocks barefoot to get help because they took our shoes too,” she added.
The attack lasted about five minutes but to the mother and daughter it felt like hours.
“The attackers fled with my mom’s backpack, which only had sandwiches and drinks in, as well as my camera bag with my camera and lenses. A security guard who heard our screams chased after the men and managed to get my car keys and cellphone back. He was also attacked but we are so thankful he helped us.”
A passing cyclist contacted the police and the two women were taken to Little Company of Mary Hospital. Doctors said they were lucky to have survived the attack because the areas of the wounds indicated the attackers wanted to kill them.
“The police and hospital staff informed us that previous attacks had taken place at the reserve and that it was no longer a safe place to go.”
Also read:
• Crime in Groenkloof Reserve to be tackled
• Elderly attacked, robbed in their Van Riebeeck Park home
