Ms Lucy Maleka was stabbed in her back and robbed of her belongings at the entrance to the bridge near the fire station in Ext 22 on Tuesday, October 12.
According to her employee, Ms Nicky van Wyngaardt, Ms Maleka, who is a domestic worker, walked from Ms Van Wyngaardt’s home just after 16:00 and headed toward town to catch the bus to her home in Leandra.
A man approached her and then stabbed her before making off with all her belongings.
Because her cellphone was in her stolen bag and no one came to her aid, a bleeding Ms Maleka walked more than a kilometre back to her employer’s home.
Ms Van Wyngaardt at first thought that Ms Maleka had left something behind and had returned to the house for it.
“She told me she was stabbed. She lifted her jacket and there was this huge stain of blood on her dress,” said Ms Van Wyngaardt.
Ms Van Wyngaardt rushed Ms Maleka to a doctor where she received several stitches.
According to the doctor, the blade of the knife had just missed her lungs.
“The doctor said if it had not been for her being a bit chubby, the blade would have gone through to her lungs.”
“Even though it was not such a huge distance from where the attack happened to my home, for someone who had been stabbed, it is quite a distance,” said Ms Van Wyngaardt.
She said they also made contact with Ms Maleka’s husband to let him know of the attack and that he should not panic if he could not get her on the cellphone.
Ms Van Wyngaardt said she understands what it is like to be robbed and questions why the man did not just take what he wanted without stabbing Ms Maleka.
She said this was most probably an opportunistic crime where the assailant saw a woman walking on her own as an easy target.
“It angers me that this happens to disadvantaged people. It breaks my heart that she was wounded, does not know the area well and had to walk back to my home for help,” said Ms Van Wyngaardt.
She is warning people to be alert of their surroundings when walking this stretch of road and to also warn their domestic workers.
