A group of men that robbed two women on their morning runs near the Main Road traffic circle, remain at large.
Last month, Sentinel reported on a spike in robberies at the traffic circle in recent weeks, and that police were monitoring crime levels there (“Crime hot spot next to cop shop”, February 9).
The main road traffic circle is just metres from the Hout Bay police station.
On Saturday morning, March 23, Renate Reynecke, recalls that she and a fellow club runner, went out for a morning run at approximately 7.45am, in preparation for the upcoming Two Oceans Marathon.
“We were busy with one of our annual club training runs, before the Two Oceans Marathon and sought to tackle the last 30km of the route. It was a busy morning out with lots of runners, cyclists and pedestrians in the area.
“Myself and another female club runner were running together, going past Hout Bay police station near Imizamo Yethu. Then, a couple of metres across the traffic circle is where the robbery happened,” she said.
Three men coming from across the road approached the women.
“One of them held a panga and was hitting it on the road. The next moment my friend started to scream and they were on top of me. Pulling me from behind, there was more than one, three all together holding on to me.
“At first I tried to pull away and just shouted, ‘leave’, ‘help’, ‘no’. You feel helpless at that moment and just see your life going past in a few seconds. The screaming didn’t help as bystanders were just staring at us,” she recalled.
Eventually one of the men started pulling on her backpack which was strapped to her chest.
“It’s then when I realised that they wanted my backpack. I loosened my backpack’s clips and they grabbed it, eventually letting me go.
“We ran away from there as fast as we could, without looking back trying to get help from anyone living in the neighbourhood but no one was home. Luckily my fellow runner still had her backpack on with her phone inside and we could call for help.”
She says the traumatic incident lasted only a few minutes but felt like hours passing by.
“It all happened so fast and as a woman there is so much going on in your head in those few moments. We were lucky to have gotten away unharmed, with only my backpack and phone stolen but it’s still not fair.
“This was such a traumatic experience and left us feeling disappointed that we were metres away from the police station and nobody came to our rescue.”
She made a case at Hout Bay police station an hour later.
“We can confirm a case was opened and is under investigation. However, there have been no suspects identified nor any arrests at the moment,” said Hout Bay police station commander, Lieutenant Colonel Captain Jerome Syster.
Items that were stolen include Ms Reynecke’s Aonijie Running vest, her cellphone, bank card and R100 cash.
When asked in which direction the men fled, she said: “They ran in the direction of Imizamo Yethu, first road right, after circle, facing Constantia Nek. We couldn’t even describe them to the police, as the one moment we were running and then they came across the road from the side road, then they grabbed me and that was it.”
She adds that her running club has offered to assist her with counselling.
Her running partner, Theresa Parsraman, also shared her experience with Sentinel.
“As I was running and shouting I looked back to see who was coming after me; it was then that I saw all three of them attacking my friend. Within seconds, they sped off into IY. There were so many pedestrians around at the time.
“Still shaken, we eventually spotted a security van and it was then when I felt comfortable to call for help. None of my items were stolen, so I didn’t lay a charge.”
Security company boss Fareed Hoosen, say they are have been doing extensive visible patrols in the area.
“I advise people to jog in groups and keep pepper spray handy. Also it’s good to inform local security if a group is going to jog through the area, so that we are aware,” he said.
When asked if she informed the Two Oceans organisation about the dangers of this route, Ms Reynecke said: “No, not yet. Should we be? They are aware of the dangers. There was a year when Two Oceans organisers considered changing route to Ou Kaapse Weg because of threats of violence in IY.”
Sentinel sent mails to the Two Oceans organisers to hear how they’ll manage the safety of runners tackling the routes in Hout Bay in light of the recent robberies. They could not provide a response before the time of publication despite several reminders.
“This section of the official race has been a crime hotspot for many years and seriously needs security, even within the Two Oceans race you feel unsafe running past that section of Hout Bay. This area is a time-bomb waiting to explode. Now everyone is asking, but if you know it, why do you run it?
“Even if running with other runners, it is not safe you need to be in bigger groups, regroup before you hit IY and stay together. There’s safety in numbers,” said Ms Reynecke.
