Durban - Just hours after parading the Ram Slam T20 Challenge trophy at Kings Park at half-time on Saturday, Dolphins batsman Cameron Delport, 24, was held up at gunpoint near the Stables in Jacko Jackson Drive.
Delport had gone to the Berea Rovers clubhouse after the Sharks match to celebrate, after receiving a rousing reception with his team upon parading the franchise’s first silverware since 2006.
They were going back to his girlfriend Jade Upton’s car just after 1am when their special evening turned sour. Upton, 24, and her cousin Bianca Felix, 22 were walking to the car with Delport when they heard a noise and a man jumped out of the bushes. Thinking it was a car guard, Delport turned and started talking to him, reaching for a tip.
Another robber then appeared out of an abandoned container nearby and pointed a gun at them.
“They started going through the girls’ purses and my bag with my travelling kit from the half-time parade, looking for money. We eventually just threw it all on the floor and told them to take everything,” he said.
“Then they picked up the bags and casually sauntered off, leaving the car behind. When we were driving away we saw them walking down the railway track, not in a hurry or anything,” said Delport.
Delport’s teammate, David Miller, said: “We were so thrilled by the crowd’s response to our game, it was a shock to find out what happened after such a wonderful evening.”
Delport said they went back to the scene on Sunday, to see if some of their things had been discarded in the bushes.
There was nothing there but they noticed the gate to the railway track had been vandalised. They were also able to track Upton’s iPhone to Greyville before its battery died.
Sharks chief executive John Smit said he was unaware of the incident.
“If it had happened inside the stadium, I would have been informed,” he said.
The police were contacted for comment but were not aware of the case.
The Mercury