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Turkmen was traumatised by the incident as he was unsure whether it was a criminal or a politically motivated robbery.
Picture: iStock
Media bodies and senior journalists have condemned the increasing incidents of journalists’ robberies in the streets of South Africa and demanded for the state, particularly the police to ensure their safety and to bring those responsible to book.
In commemorating World Press Freedom Day, the South African National Editors’ Forum (SANEF) and the National Press Club brought attention to the recent robbery of a Turkish freelance journalist living in South Africa, Turkmen Terzi, who was robbed by a group of well-dressed men driving an expensive sedan in Woodmead recently.
Turkmen was traumatised by the incident as he was unsure whether it was a criminal or a politically motivated robbery.
Turkish freelance journalist living in South Africa, Turkmen Terzi after being robbed. Picture: Supplied
While the media and free speech advocates internationally are commemorating World Press Day today, Terzi is heartbroken because even after opening a case at the Sandton police station about his expensive iPhone being robbed, the police merely opened the case but closed it within a few days telling the journalist they could not find anything in their investigation.
This shocked Terzi, who was still waiting to be informed as to who the investigating officer assigned to the case was and what progress the police had made.
Terzi has been living in self-imposed exile in South Africa for the last eleven years since his media company in Istanbul, Turkiye, was closed down by the Turkish authorities.
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The freelance journalist fears returning home and remains stuck in South Africa, as journalists are being harassed and jailed for their work back home.
Terzi, a member of the National Press Club, has not yet recovered from the robbery trauma. He went to the outlet to meet a fellow journalist for a chat about Istanbul mayor’s arrest in Turkey. “I went to the Woodmead McDonald’s on the evening of 9 April, around 19:00, to meet my colleague.
“When I parked in the McDonald’s parking lot, I noticed a white BMW next to my car, with three or four occupants inside. The back door facing my car was open, and a guy greeted me. Then I went inside to wait for my colleague.
“Minutes later, I saw a well-dressed man, aged around 30 to 35, walking into the restaurant, pretending to wait for his order. While my colleague was ordering a burger, I was talking to another friend over the phone.
“Suddenly, the man grabbed my iPhone and ran to the BMW. Because he quickly pulled my phone, he scratched my face with his fingernails and broke my glasses. I realised the BMW had moved from the original parking space and was now waiting right at the entrance. The security guard tried to stop the car, but the driver sped off quickly,” Terzi said.
Terzi and the South African journalist he was with were left stunned by the incident, unsure of what to do. “I was traumatised and rushed home to cancel my bank cards linked to Apple Pay and my MTN SIM card. The next morning, I went back to McDonald’s to request the camera footage, as the man had snatched my phone inside the restaurant.
“They asked me to return later to speak with the manager. Later, I met the manager, but she told me I needed a case number to obtain the camera recordings, and only a police officer could request the footage.”
The journalists opened a case at the Sandton Police Station and received a case number via SMS with the case number. However, he received another SMS a few days later stating that the case had been closed. This shocked him as he expected the police to investigate and inform him of the progress they had made in their probe. He wants answers about why the matter was closed so soon, in a few days after opening it.
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Terzi stayed without a phone or communication until his MTN SIM was reactivated on Monday, 14 April. “I missed many important communications and couldn’t even access my email, as it is linked to my mobile phone. The worst part was that I missed the accreditation deadline for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the Union Buildings.
“Thanks to my media colleagues who called to ask what had happened and commented on social media. I later received a call from the victim support centre. A woman from the centre provided psychological counselling over the phone and asked me to call their number again if I continued to struggle with the trauma I experienced, “Terzi said.
Both Sanef and the National Press Club condemned the incident and other robberies and attacks targeting journalists and asked both the police and the government to ensure the journalists were allowed the freedom to do their work without fear of being robbed.
Sanef executive director, Reggy Moalusi: “Turkmen is a journalist who has grown to be one of us in the journalistic fraternity. This act of criminality must be condemned, we cannot have journalists working or living under fear. Saps must come on board and thoroughly investigate this matter, so that Turkmen and we, as his colleagues, can have closure”
National Press Club’s acting chairperson, Antoinette Slabbert, condemned the robbery on Terzi and other incidents of robbery of journalists in the South African streets.
Slabber said: “Journalists, by the nature of their profession, move around a lot and are regularly exposed to the rampant criminality in the country. We have seen TV crews being robbed on camera. With formal newsrooms getting smaller all the time, more and more journalists are self-employed and the loss of equipment essential for doing their jobs is for their own account. This can be devastating to journalists who fund their reporting themselves, as is the case with Terzi.”
She also cited the case of Aserie Ndlovu who is the founder of Capital Live FM and his partner Zondwa Ndhlovu who had been missing since early February.
“The National Press Club and African Communicators forum have increased the reward for information that leads to the couple being found to R100 000. We call on the National Commissioner of Police Gen. Fannie Masemola to give the highest priority to the case,” Slabbert said.‘He’s more than a working dog, he’s my partner’: Relief as police K9 recovers from traumatic attack
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