Cape Town cyclists hit by drive-by sjambok!
The Cape Town cycling community has been enraged after two Navy employees allegedly attacked cyclists with a sjambok, while driving.
They were cycling along a popular route near Fish Hoek, this past weekend – when the occupants of a silver Polo struck two of the four cyclists from behind. These unfortunate two cyclists suffered severe wounds – one with a cut to his face and the second with a deep cut across his back.
In case you don’t know what a sjambok is – it resembles a whip of sorts, but more rigid. It’s made out of rubber and can cause some real damage.
Police say that this isn’t an isolated incident and that they are looking at multiple cases, at various different locations.
“There have been seven cases reported to both Simon’s Town and Fish Hoek police. This seems to be six cyclists and one runner at this time.”
said Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk, adding,
“An eighth person had filed a complaint of a similar attack on Kommetjie Road in Fish Hoek.”
He went on to say that the suspects – who are members of the SA Navy – are facing charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and will appear in court on Wednesday.
A Stellenbosch University professor William Ferris, 52, and a 40-year-old man – who wishes to remain anonymous – said that they were riding on Blackhill, near Fish Hoek when they noticed a silver VW Polo behind them. Next thing they saw, when glancing back – was a man dangling out of the car window – sjambok at the ready.
“I felt a massive thump on my helmet and I initially thought it was a rock. When I looked up, I saw a Polo driving behind me. The road was extremely wide and I was not infringing on any motorists – staying at least six metres away from cars,” he said. “He hit me over the head. The tip of the sjambok went over my face and would have ripped my eye out if it was not for my glasses.”
Both cyclists were attacked, facing quite substantial injuries. The four cyclists who witnessed the incident proceeded to the Simon’s Town Police Station, where they opened multiple cases of assault.
The cyclists thanked Dawie Steenkamp from Fish Hoek Police Station and Chris Lee from the Traffic and Crime Alert Group of Fish Hoek Valley and surrounds, for their swift actions – leading to an arrest of these individuals.
Source: IOL News