The victim, who wished only to be named as Wednesday said, “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw him on the bus sitting next to an elderly woman. This man who had robbed and threatened to kill me, he seemed so normal and caring as he spoke to her softly and held her hand.”
According to Wednesday, he heard the man call the woman ‘mamma’ and the two spoke about what they were going to make for supper.
Wednesday said he then decided to get closer to the man and see if he would recognise him. “I got up and sat directly behind my attacker. My heart was racing. He looked directly at me and didn’t even blink,” he recalled.
According to Wednesday, he was shocked that this man who had poured a fizzy drink over his face when he was robbing him didn’t even recognise that it was him. “It infuriated me, I suddenly snapped and got up again and sat directly next to them,” he added.
According to Wednesday, he took out his phone and took a picture of the man’s face and ordered the bus driver to stop. “I got off the bus and ran back to where I stay. I then compared the photo to the picture of the man I had from when the attack originally took place. It was him.”
The shopkeeper, who sustained a minor injury to his left hand, added that at the time of the attack he did not go to the police as only R2 500 was stolen and he was scared the men would come back and hurt his family.
Seeing his attacker has opened up old wounds for Wednesday. “I can now see that he is a human that has a family and it is unacceptable. All he is, is a bully and I am going to the police with the matter,” he said.
Sergeant Nurse Sanyane of Norwood Police Station said shortly after the attack took place, “The public needs to come forward if they fall victim to crime. We are here to assist and serve the community. If the public is too scared to go to the police, they can always report crime anonymously on Crime Line.”
Details: Crime Line, SMS your anonymous tip-offs to 32 211.