Muggers chased down in Braam
Two suspects were chased down by Wits students and arrested by security guards after they tried to rob a female student in Braamfontein last weekend.
The suspects approached her with a knife on the corner of Bertha and Stiemens streets and stole her bag around 8:30pm last Saturday.
Matthews Bisse, 1st year BSc, was walking along De Korte Street with two friends when he heard a scream.
Listen to Bisse’s eyewitness account below.
Mboniseni Sikhwari, a security officer for a private security company, said the suspects approached him before he heard the call for “backup” on his radio.
One of the suspects was chased by a motorist along Jorissen Street, while Bisse and his friends intercepted the other outside Braamfontein Lofts.
The suspects were arrested by Urban Genesis security officers, who are contracted by Wits to patrol walking areas around the university.
A case was opened with Campus Control and the police.
Bisse said he was ahead of his friends as they chased the thieves.
“… what we’ve read on Vuvuzela that people are being mugged just gave me confidence when I saw that I wasn’t alone … there were a lot of us chasing that guy.”
Sikhwari said muggins are more common during university terms. He advised students to be more streetwise.
Listen to Sikhwari’s advice to students below.
Michael Mahada, Campus Control investigations manager, said Campus Control does not escort students to off-campus residences but has arranged with Urban Genesis security guards to do so.
Wits Vuvuzela was unable to reach the student.
Published in Wits Vuvuzela, 17th edition, 27 July 2012.
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