‘It’s how I was raised’, says man stabbed while saving woman from rape

A stranger who jumped in to save a woman who was being raped in Table View, Cape Town, says that he didn’t think twice before intervening.

Radius Masukume, 49, was stabbed multiple times while fighting off two men who were allegedly raping a 45-year-old woman in a field off Gie Road a week ago.

He was lauded a hero on social media for his courage but came off as humble when interviewed for the first time.

‘We have to look after women’

“It’s how I was raised. I am a son of a chief,” he told News24.

“We have to look after women. Women raise our children and teach them things like how to speak.”

Masukume, who works for himself in construction, explained that he had been walking to a work site last Thursday when he heard the woman screaming.

“I jumped over the fence to an open space and saw two guys raping her.”

He shouted at them and one of the men kicked him down.

“He stabbed me in my face and head. Four times. I kicked him and then managed to run towards the police [in the road].”

The father of six children- aged six to 29 – said he was aware that most people would have kept on walking instead of running into danger.

“I am happy to say I am recovering and am very strong.”

Doctors removed stitches on his face earlier this week.

Raising funds

Keep the Energy, a Facebook group which focuses on gender-based violence, posted about the incident and also set up a fundraising page to reward him for his selflessness.

Masukume said he was happy about the money and would use some of it to keep helping other people.

He worked part-time, using his building skills that he picked up in Polokwane as a 14-year-old boy fresh from Zimbabwe.

When he arrived in the country, he fell in love with a South African woman and they built a life together, settling in Cape Town in 2001.

The provincial health department’s Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Deanna Bessick confirmed that they assisted after the attack.

She said paramedics treated a man and woman for multiple stab wounds.

“The male was transported to Du Noon Community Health Centre, and the female to Victoria Hospital,” she said.

It was not immediately clear what the woman’s condition was.

Western Cape police said that Table View police were investigating cases of attempted murder and attempted robbery, while the Milnerton police’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences unit would investigate the rape.

Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said no one had yet been arrested.

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