Durban - A 85-year-old woman is still recovering from injuries and an encounter with a mugger who set upon her three weeks ago.
Carol Pretorius has subsequently only once ventured out from her home at the Edenroc Frail Care Centre since her ordeal - and then she had a carer with her.
"I don't go out any more on my own," she said, her arm still in a sling after her shoulder was broken in three places when she was dragged along the ground by her attacker.
Pretorius was mugged while walking along Playfair Road at North Beach, she recalled.
"I had ordered some samoosas at the shopping centre on Sol Harris Crescent. I had to fetch them that afternoon. While walking back with some groceries and a bag slung over my shoulder, a man gripped me from behind and then pulled my bag. Instinctively, I pulled the bag back and a tussle ensued between us. It was like a tug of war. I fell to the ground and he dragged me along. Eventually, I let go and he ran off," she said.
The mugger got R40, a standard cellphone and his victim's bank card.
"There was nobody around to help me," recalled Pretorius, who was also left with bruised knees and grazed toes.
"Eventually, a man came to pick me up and walked me to the police at a petrol garage. I gave them my details. I was in so much pain that I wanted medical help. I thought the police would chase after the suspect. They could not have been very far away from him. I did not open a case," Pretorius said.
She spent five days in hospital and had to have metal plates and screws inserted in her shoulder to repair the broken bones. She is due back in hospital for a check-up at the end of the month.
It was the first time that she had experienced such an ordeal, and the fearful pensioner no longer goes for her usual walk along the beachfront.
* On Sunday, a businesswoman who had just left a beachfront restaurant was held up at gunpoint in the nearby parking area
Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane, said a case of armed robbery was lodged at Durban Central police station after the victim was approached while coming out of Circus Circus.
Cash was taken and the suspect fled. No arrest has been made.
The victim could not be contacted for comment on Thursday.
Daily News