Mrs Nicola den Hond said her husband was taking the family dog for a walk on the hill when he was attacked.
“His attacker pulled a gun on him, my husband ran but then tripped and fell about five metres down the side of the hill. He dislocated his shoulder and had a deep laceration on the back of his thigh. The robber followed him to where he had fallen, held a gun to his head and demanded his valuables. He had only a cellular phone on him, which at that point had broken when he fell,” Mrs Den Hond said.
She said that her husband was helped by other people who were at the lake and the staff of the Mrs Sippi Blues who kept him hydrated and called the ambulance until she arrived.
She said that the hill is not safe.
“Gillooly’s is not a safe place. I have read a number of articles about people getting mugged and attacked there.”
“The nature trail up the Gillooly’s hill should either be policed, patrolled and well sign-posted about the dangers or be closed to the public. How many times must this kind of tragedy be repeated before somebody actually does something about it? Whatever is currently being done is not enough,” said Mrs Den Hond.
Bedfordview SAPS corporate communications officer, Sergeant Mduduzi Nhlabathi, said another woman was also robbed at Gillooly’s Farm on the same day.
“The woman was walking next to the dam on the side of the hill when a man showed her a firearm and told her to obey him. He took her ring and walked away,” Sgt Nhlabathi said.
He added that there are talks between the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) and the police about the safety of the area.
“The investigations into these robberies continue. I want to stress that this area is still vulnerable. People should walk in numbers if they want to walk there. We, the SAPS and the metro, are having talks on how to deal with that area. The outcome of the talks will be revealed soon,” Sgt Nhlabathi said.
