A white mother and daughter were assaulted and the daughter stabbed while walking on the beach at Ballito’s Salmon Bay on Tuesday.
Bela de Sousa and her daughter Gabriela, who matriculated in 2013, parked their car at The Galley and walked towards Zimbali. They were on their way back when an aggressive black man ran towards them, demanding their cellphones and wallets.
Before they could respond, their attacker began hitting them with a rock, cutting and bruising them. Bela and Gabriela fought back, and Bela pushed him away. The man pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed Gabriela in the left hand after trying to stab her mother.
“I think he panicked when he saw the blood because he bolted back up the pedestrian steps,” said Bela.
Ron Warwick witnessed the attack and rushed Gabriela to hospital on his motorbike.
Gabriela’s hand was bleeding heavily and by the time they got to the hospital, both them and the bike were covered in blood.
The doctor confirmed that Gabriela had severed some tendons in her hand. She was operated on yesterday afternoon at about 4 pm.
“She has four fingers that are not working,” said Bela.
The attacker ran away empty handed.
“We are still in shock and cannot believe it happened to us,” said Gabriela.
Bela said she has seen their attacker before and thinks he might be a local car guard.
“He is about 20 years old and we would definitely be recognise him if we see him again,” she said.
Bela said in South Africa, life is not cherished and they no longer felt safe on Ballito’s beaches. She suggested the police patrol the beaches and said she would still walk on the beach but not without her husband and her dog.
“Carrying pepper spray would also be a good idea,” she said.
Bela and Gabriela would like to thank Ron Warwick for his help and they wanted to warn the public to be vigilant at all times.
“It is so sad that this is happening here in Ballito,” said Gabriela.
Umhlali SAPS Lt Col Dieter Fittkau said the case has been reported and an investigation opened.
In another incident in South Africa’s ongoing black-on-white violence, a 20-year old student from the University of Preotria was brutally stabbed and then raped by a black burglar, Samuel Tsietsi Msiza, 24, on 26 October 2011. The still virgin girl was stabbed, slashed and cut up with a knife 22 times before Msiza told his bleeding, dazed victim: “Take off your pants. I want to sex you.”
A photograph of Msiza released by police after his escape
She survived the attack after spending eight days in the intensive care unit of a local hospital. So badly did her black male assailant stab her that the knife point broke off in her brain cavity.
In testimony before the Pretoria High Court, the girl said that she “felt used and second-hand”. Her face was also permanently scarred in the knife attack, with a long line running across it.
She was required to testify by the court this week to determine whether Msiza could be held accountable for his deeds. The rapist and attacker had admitted his guilt and had also apologised to his white victim.
At times the girl broke down and sobbed in court, recalling her ordeal on the night of 26 October 2011 when horror struck and changed her life forever.
During the attack, the 20-year old Christian Afrikaner girl fervently prayed to God and repeatedly shouted “Jesus!” in a cry for help from above.
“He just kept on stabbing me,” she said in court. “As he stabbed, I just said, ‘Jesus, Jesus, help me!’.”
“He told me to shut up.”
“Every Wednesday night we held a Bible study group at my house. At around ten o’clock I saw off the members of our group at the entrance to our gated community.”
“I locked the door. The living room windows were open, about 10 cm wide. The windows had burglar proofing, about the same size as an A5 sheet of paper.”
“I had a shower and went to the living room to turn off the lights. At this point, the accused jumped up from behind the TV cabinet. He just started stabbing me. Then he demanded money and jewellery.”
“He knew what he was looking for.”
“Bleeding profusely, I stumbled to my bedroom to give him money and jewellery. Then I lost consciousness.”
“When I regained consciousness he was still there. I was lying on the floor. He then kicked me in the face and told me to take off my pants.”
“‘Why?’ I asked him. But he just told me again to take off my slacks.”
“Then he kicked me in the face again and said: ‘I want to sex you.'”
“After the rape, I was so exhausted from the blood loss that I could not get up. He looked for the keys to the front door. I told him to go because I needed a doctor. He even asked if he should call the doctor. I said: ‘Yes’.”
“He then left the house, locking the door behind him. I struggled all the way to the kitchen, but I fainted again. Eventually I managed to get the back door open. The wind was blowing. I don’t know how I got to the garden gate, but I did. I lay there screaming and kicking, but no-one heard me. Only much later did my neighbour find me there.”
The victim in hospital after the attack, with her cut-up hands all bandaged up
Three years ago she had to undergo extensive plastic surgery as some of her fingers had been severed by Mzisa, including her thumb. The piece of knife was also removed from her skull.
She underwent psychiatric treatment and had to use antidepressants.
After his arrest, two black policemen, Mphikeledi Alfred Mahlanga, 39, and Amos Chris Masilela, 48, helped Mzisa to escape. Charges of obstruction to justice were laid against them but later withdrawn.
The girl’s father was considering filing a civil suit against the South African government as Mzisa had already been held in custody for six years on three charges of rape, but was released on only R1000 (about $100) bail in January 2011, also because the investigating officer did not bother to show up in court.
South Africa is known as the world’s rape capital. According to surveys by the Medical Research Council of South Africa, more than a million women are raped every year. The media rarely refer to rape. Interracial rape is considered so politically incorrect that it is almost forbidden to even be mentioned, yet brutal cases like this one regularly land up in the courts and sometimes get reported on by court reporters.
A 19-year-old man was stabbed to death in Bloemfontein, Free State police said on Monday.
Zenzile Nqolo and Thabang Mohata were attacked by a group of men, who demanded their cellphones and wallets, when they left a local tavern on Saturday, said Captain Chaka Marope.
“It is alleged that Nqolo, in his attempt to fight back, was overpowered by the men and in [the] process sustained severe stab wounds,” said Marope.
Mohata escaped and alerted police, who were patrolling nearby. – Sapa
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