‘Metrorail guards robbed me on a train’
A CAR GUARD has been left feeling hopeless, after he said he was assaulted and robbed of his belongings by three Metrorail security guards, on a train on the Southern Line.
Single parent, Stanley Smith, 55, said his cellphone, knife and money had been taken on his way to a plumbing job in the city.
“Three Metrorail employees got in the train at Steurhof Station.
“They were checking tickets and I had a knife in my pocket, when they saw the knife they held me down, choked me and took my knife, phone and money in my pocket.
“They said it was gambling money so they refused to give it back,” he said.
At the next station they put him out of the train.
Smith said it was all he had and he had made the money from parking cars at Surfer’s Corner in Muizenberg.
He said besides parking cars, his phone was his only means of making an extra income, as he also provides plumbing services and is contactable on his cellphone.
“Parking cars does not provide the same money everyday. So I have to do extra work to keep a roof over my and my son’s head,” he said.
His 14-year-old son currently lives with his friend, as he sleeps under a truck in someone’s backyard.
“I was renting a space in a friend’s workshop for R100 a week, but if I do not have a consistent income I cannot afford it,” Smith said.
Smith said he was traumatised and would never take a train again. “I would rather walk but I will not take a train,” he said.
He said when attempting to open charges, he was referred to the City’s Public Transport Information in Wynberg, where he lodged a complaint.
Metrorail spokesperson Riana Scott confirmed that a complaint had been lodged.
Smith can be contacted through his friend Wikus de Bruyn on 071 197 1210.