Johannesburg - It has been six days since two men were murdered and a woman was raped in Rhodes Park in Kensington, Joburg, with the perpetrators still at large.
On Saturday evening, Westbury Secondary School teacher Zukisa Kela, along with his fiancée and another couple, were attacked in the park by a group of 12 men.
One of the women was raped and Kela, along with the other man, were tied up and thrown in the lake. Both drowned.
Despite police calling for the public to come forward with any information about the 12 men, police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said on Thursday there had been no arrests and that police were still investigating.
After the attacks, members of the Kensington community have started speaking out about muggings which have become commonplace in the park.
A member of the Rhodes Park Tennis Club, who wanted to be identified only as Trent, told The Star he was nearly mugged the night before the two men were murdered.
Trent said he and a friend were in the parking area near the tennis club around 6.30pm. He doesn’t usually stay at the park that late, but his friend’s scooter was giving trouble and they were trying to start it.
“Three men tried to accost us. It has happened to me before over there. I acted on instinct and hit them with my tennis racquet and started chasing them, and they ran off,” Trent said.
A few months ago, the men who tried to mug him had carried a toy gun and a gun that didn’t go off when they tried to shoot at him, he said.
“Maybe they thought we were easy targets, but I am someone who doesn’t give in easily. fight back, but it can go either way. I could get killed,” he said.
“I told my friend we must be careful, because next time they will know to come with more men or better armed.”
A man who was also in the parking area and saw what had happened told the two tennis players that he and his wife had been mugged in the park the previous night. “It really is a no-go area at night,” Trent said.
But attacks also take place in the day. Six women were mugged and robbed of their cellphones recently, he said.
The Star
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