Brave Richards Bay seniors have last laugh
Our sister newspaper, the Mid South Coast Mail, reported on two brave Richards Bay seniors who took on an armed robber and ultimately triumphed
A KNIFE-wielding robber had the shock of his life when he threatened to kill his elderly target on Rocky Bay beach recently.
‘Get on with it,’ she said, ‘I haven’t got all day.’
This story proves that South Africans – Richards Bay ladies in particular – are not sissies and can even see the funny side no matter how dire the circumstances.
The Mail had the pleasure of interviewing two delightful characters, Johanna Viljoen and Joey Blignaut, about their encounter with the ‘ruthless’ cell phone thief.
Johanna is a 72-year-old and her best friend Joey comes in at 68. They have been best friends ‘for ever and ever’.
‘Actually, it’s just since 2005, but who’s counting?’
The two Richards Bay women spotted a man walking in the distance. Thinking nothing of it at the time, they simply carried on searching for shells.
‘I knelt down to pick up a shell and, as I looked up, his face was right in front of mine,’ said Johanna, adding that he simply said ‘phone’.
Johanna replied sarcastically, ‘What phone?’
The thief-to-be answered: ‘Your cell phone.’
Pause… this is where it gets serious.
‘He then pulled out a kitchen knife and threatened to kill me,’ said Johanna.
‘I told him, ‘Get on with it, I haven’t got all day’.
‘He then threatened me again so I took the packet of shells I had in my hand and smacked him right in the face,’ she added, with an ever-growing smirk on her face.
Nut-cracker sweet
Joey chipped in: ‘When I tried to move, the bugger told me that he would kill me too.’
Unfortunately for him, the assailant did not get the message and ’round two’ ensued.
‘He slapped my face,’ said Johanna. ‘I couldn’t stand for that.’
She then attempted to give him the old ‘nut-cracker’.
As Johanna prepared to kick the man in the you-know-where, he spotted the move and grabbed her.
‘He grabbed my leg in mid-air and stabbed me,’ she said.
‘I fell to the ground and my phone fell from my pocket.’
Spotting the opportunity, the thief grabbed Johanna’s phone and ran off.
In spite of the wound, Johanna and Joey weren’t giving up.
‘Joey and I ran after him as I wanted my phone back,’ said Johanna.
Alas, the thief was ‘slightly faster’.
So Johanna and Joey went to report the incident at the Scottburgh police station.
The cherry on the top for the two ladies is that, not only did police arrest their man, but they also recovered the phone after slick detective work by their hero, Cliffy Pillay.
Musawenkosi Bruce Ngwazi (35) was subsequently arrested for another robbery on Scottburgh beach and was identified as the Rocky Bay suspect.
He appeared in the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court and was remanded in custody until Thursday (7 April).
