I, age 20, was attacked by a young male with a knife along uMhlanga promenade two weeks ago. He was walking along the promenade towards me while I was running with my dog.
He did look suspicious, looking behind him all the time and scratching his back (obviously where the knife was). I did not expect anything to happen the way it did, at 3pm along what I classify one of the safest places to take a walk or run.
The attacker pulled his knife on me and shouted ‘phone,phone’, and I ended up throwing my iPhone at him in absolute fear. I am disgusted and highly disappointed in the situation. And to hear so many other women have fallen victim to this type of attack, I am so outraged.
Something needs to be done! It has been two weeks since the incident and I still haven’t got the guts to go back to the promenade and I don’t think I’ll ever go along there by myself again, which is so frustrating.
I opened a case with SAPS, the two ladies who also got mugged in uMhlanga didn’t specify whether they opened a case or not. I haven’t received a follow-up call from SAPS, but I just recently met with a gentleman from the UIP who found out about my incident from the police and he reassured me they are trying to motivate extra security along the promenade, but need the residents along the promenade to pay towards this security.
I read the article before my meeting with the gentleman and mentioned to him about it and he had not heard of these ladies’ cases as they obviously didn’t report the incidents to SAPS.
People need to report these crimes so that the statistics are realistic and something can be done. It could be the same male operating these crimes and to inform SAPS is the only way this criminal or criminals will get caught.
I really hope everyone creates awareness about these incidents and something is done for the safety of the hundreds of people visiting the promenade every day!
Danielle Bailey
La Lucia
