Tourist attacked

Two men arrested after American woman gang-raped at Storms River

AGARDEN Route community has been left reeling after the horror gang-rape of an American teacher at Storms River at the weekend which has triggered deep fears about the damaging effect of the attack on one of the country’s top tourism-generating regions.

The 47-year-old victim was attacked and gang-raped in broad daylight after being abducted by two men while she was jogging on a road near the Garden Route National Park in Tsitsikamma on Sunday morning.

The teacher, who was on holiday in Tsitsikamma and cannot be named as she is a victim of a sex crime, was allegedly chased by the men who had first called out to her before they dragged her into the bushes next to the road between 8am and 9am.

Following swift police work, two men were arrested within eight hours.

By yesterday afternoon, the woman had already left for Johannesburg where, police spokeswoman Warrant Officer Gerda Swart confirmed, she is teaching.

Commenting on the attack, Garden Route tourism specialist and owner of the Go Garden Route marketing company, Stephanie Shrosbree, said an incident such as the rape attack had an exceptionally negative impact on tourism in the area.

“These types of criminal events certainly impact very negatively. Ultimately, they impact on tourism and the image of the area as a whole and, of course, then on the number of visitors to these areas,” she said.

Tsitsikamma Tourism Association chairman Dewald Niemann said the incident had attracted a large amount of attention and that it had devastated the Tsitsikamma community.

“We cannot condone any crime, whether the victims are tourists or locals. This is particularly true because we have such a low crime rate in this area. The community is devastated by what has happened here,” he said.

Niemann said the only good thing about the incident was that the police had made such rapid arrests.

“We are very pleased that those arrests were made so quickly. The police have done a great job here. Despite all of this, we urge people to be vigilant at all times and not to take unnecessary risks. This is South Africa and people should know that they have to be vigilant at all times, no matter where they are,” he said.

Niemann said the incident would impact negatively on tourism in the area and reiterated that members of the public should be cautious and refrain from putting themselves at further risk by, for example, jogging alone.

Swart said two men had accosted the victim, dragged her into the bush and took turns raping her. Nothing was stolen as she had nothing with her. The men fled on foot.

Swart said a passer-by found the woman walking along the road and alerted Storms River police.

“A search for the suspects was immediately launched and by 7.30pm on Sun- day the two men were arrested,” she said.

The victim was taken to Knysna Provincial Hospital where she was treated and put on antiretroviral medication.

“She is naturally traumatised by the incident and receiving treatment. Detectives have also visited the crime scene . . . and gathered evidence,” Swart said.

“The docket has now been handed over to the specialist FCS [Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences] Unit.”

Garden Route National Park spokesman Nandi Mgwadlamba said the woman had booked into a private lodge about 1km east of the Storms River area, near the national park.

“This did not happen in the park. She was jogging on the road and was chased by the two men. She was, however, jogging towards the national park,” she said.

“The area in which the victim was attacked is part of a hiking trail which is usually booked overnight and provides guided walks.”

Humansdorp police cluster commander Brigadier Neil Jantjies commended the detectives for speedily tracking down and arresting the suspects.

“Crimes against women and children are a priority for the SAPS and we will leave no stone unturned when investigating such cases,” he said.

The men, aged 25 and 26, who are from the Tsitsikamma area, are due to appear in the Storms River Magistrate’s Court tomorrow.

Swart said there had been no formal identification of the suspects yet.

The attack follows the terrifying rape in KwaZulu-Natal 24 hours earlier of another early-morning jogger, aged 37, who was accosted by a knife-wielding man who dragged her just 2.5m into the bush off a busy urban road in the Howick area on Saturday.

According to reports, the woman – who had unsuccessfully screamed for help – could hear vehicles driving past while she was being raped.

She was found minutes after the attack by a passer-by who put her into a vehicle and then contacted emergency ser vices.

This is South Africa and people should know that they have to be vigilant at all times, no matter where they are