SABC crew robbery site is a crime hotspot
THE place where the SABC crew was robbed live on television on Tuesday has been described as dangerous to anyone walking or driving there.
The crew – including contributing editor Vuyo Mvoko, foreign editor Sophie Mokoena and senior reporter Chriselda Lewis – was robbed by armed men.
The journalists were covering the story of Zambian President Edgar Lungu who had just been admitted to Milpark Hospital.
In the footage, three men surround Mvoko and one of them starts searching him. One can be heard saying
“Dubula lenja [shoot this dog].” Mvoko responds: “Andenzanganto (I did not do anything).”
Another robber says: “Give me, sir.”
Yesterday, a security guard who patrols the area near the hospital said it was infested with armed robbers who operate there.
Most of the incidents take place along Napier Road and at the bridge above it as well as an intersection between Napier and Barry Hertzog roads.
“Crime is rife here, especially smash and grabs, pick-pocketing and armed robberies,” said Jomo Nkuna.
“I patrol here daily with my dog, this place is dangerous. Criminals here operate in groups. They arrive in cars and park them along the bridge and go and rob people before driving off,” he said.
He said he has seen many robberies, which include four men taking a woman ’ s groceries and bag while she was waiting for a taxi.
“Two weeks ago, police arrested two armed men and the third one fled in a car, ” he said.
Just last week, said Nkuna, he saved a woman from being robbed by three men.
“I saw them and alerted her. They saw me and walked away. Then they opened the doors of a moving van, jumped inside, the car stopped and they then fled with the driver’s belongings,” said Nkuna.
He pleaded for more police visibility in the area. Nkuna said the robberies happen throughout the day.
Titus Sibanda, who walks in the area almost every day, said two weeks ago he was stopped by a security guard who warned him to be alert of groups of men.
Portia Dimaza, an intern at John Orr High School, said her colleagues told her the area was teeming with criminals and that she must be alert.
Yesterday, Gauteng police issued a R100 000 reward for information that could lead to the arrest and conviction of the men seen robbing the SABC crew.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza pleaded for anyone with information regarding the suspects to come forward.
Kweza added that they were in possession of the footage of the robbery and appealed to anyone who knew the armed suspects to inform them.