A sad tale of three runners who were robbed during their morning jog at gunpoint by three men has incited some local residents to action.
Sisakhunga Pasiya, one of the victims robbed on the morning of 18 May at 4.40am, said they were running on Le Roux Avenue in Midrand when three men approached them. “We had been running on Harry Galaun Drive and had stopped on Le Roux Avenue because we noticed the men on the other side of the road and they looked a bit dodgy,” she said.
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Pasiya added that the men then quickly crossed over to their side of the road. “They came onto our side and pulled out guns, each had one,” she said. The robbers demanded the runners’ watches, headlamps, cellphones and gloves.
“They told us to lie down on the ground [and to] give them our cellphones,” she said.
Pasiya said they reported the matter to Midrand police as well as to their running mate who had not joined them on the day. Their mate later posted the incident on the People of Midrand Facebook page which prompted Ria Sebetsa Security to assist local running clubs.
“Community members are crying out that they feel unsafe to live, walk, jog or even shop in Midrand,” said Danny Maduray, chief executive officer of the security company.
“Because the community was traumatised by the incident, we offered the runners some reassurance.” He said they were offering groups of runners a safer environment.
“They can contact us and we will give them planned routes and times in which we will be patrolling the area.”
Maduray added that they could only do this for groups of people, not individual runners. He also discouraged runners from carrying weapons as these could be used against them.
He offered a few tips:
- Do not carry valuables with you on your run
- Don’t use shortcuts
- Use main roads and public roads with streetlights
- When encountering a criminal, put your hands up and give them what they want. Your life is more valuable than material things.
Details: info@riasebetsa.co.za
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