"Knife-wielding robbers terrorise hikers"

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Jacques Steenkamp, Beeld

Pretoria – Three Tuks students were attacked and held up with knives for more than three hours at a rock-climbing spot near the Hartbeespoort Dam.

Jaco de Villiers, 21, says he and Gert van der Walt, 24, and Dennis Wevell, 22, decided last Wednesday to go for a climb at the John Rissik Estate, on the Brits side of the dam.

“We left our vehicle on a parking area next to the R512 and walked about 1km to the popular Chosspile cliffs. When we got to the picnic area, six armed men jumped out of the bushes and attacked us,” De Villiers said.

Each was armed with a weapon and acted aggressively. The robbers split up into three groups of two who each overpowered one of the students and put a knife to each one's throat.

“We were forced into the bushes. Then they tied our hands and feet with telephone cables. Then they took all our belongings,” De Villiers said.

Kept sharpening his knife

The robbers untied Van de Walt's feet and took him deeper into the bush.

The other two feared they would be murdered.

“Dennis and I started worrying and we wanted to know what had happened to Van der Walt. Then they untied my feet and took me away too. I thought I was about to die.”

De Villiers was taken to a spot where Van der Walt was lying on his stomach on the ground with his face in the dirt. Wevell soon joined them. Their feet were all tied up again.

“Two of the robbers asked for our bank cards and PINs and left to draw money from an ATM,” he said.

Then one of the robbers told De Villiers: “I want your head”, and when the student didn't understand, the man lifted his head and drew a line across De Villiers' throat with his finger.

Another robber kept sharpening his knife and repeatedly pricked Van der Walt's calves with the knife.

“The other two robbers came back after two hours and were furious because they couldn't draw more than our daily limits. They could only draw R4 000 altogether,” De Villiers said.

Before the robbers fled they untied the students' hands. They left the keys to the vehicle, the bank cards and the cellphone SIM cards behind.

De Villiers says the robbers fled with cellphones, watches, cameras and climbing gear worth about R40 000.

Big problem

Dean van der Merwe, spokesperson for the Mountain Club of South Africa, says on December 29 last year two other climbers were also attacked by armed robbers at Chosspile.

“For the past few years rock climbers have been experiencing the same problems with crime as cyclists. More and more climbers are being targeted by robbers. It's becoming a big problem, since the public are losing access to their climbing places,” Van der Merwe said.

According to Neil Margetts, chairperson of the South African Mountain Climbing Federations, criminals have already taken over about four of the more than 12 climbing spots in and around Johannesburg and Pretoria."
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/Knife-wielding-robber-I-want-your-head-20110117