‘They punched me twice in the face and I fell to the ground’
A Blue Downs man is still recovering after three men allegedly attacked him in the heart of Bellville.
Ntsindiso Zide, 59, says he was walking from the Bellville train station to the taxi rank, on his way home from work as a supervisor at the Cape Flats Fynbos Nursery in Muizenberg, just after 6pm on Thursday October 3, when the incident happened.
“As I was walking to get my taxi, I was approached by these three guys and they pretended to sell me a bag, which I told them I did not want. So after that they punched me twice in the face and I fell to the ground. They kicked my left leg several times; then I got dizzy for a moment and they took my phone."
They threw the phone back at him after the attack, but he felt his leg was broken when he tried to stand up, he says.
Several people "just looked on in shock" as the men beat and kicked him, he says.
“I was (ultimately) helped by two men who picked me up and took me to where my taxi is so that I could call an ambulance and my family. But I am grateful that people did not assist me because maybe those guys would have gotten angry and done the worst to them. I am grateful that no one else got hurt."
The men didn’t take anything and he doesn’t know why they attacked him, he says.
After waiting for an ambulance that didn't arrive, his family came with an e-hailing service and took him to Karl Bremer Hospital, where he says a doctor only came to check his leg at noon the following day.
“I was then meant to go to the theatre to get operated on, but that did not happen. I only went to the theatre two days later. This whole experience was not nice at all because of all the pain I was in because my leg broke in two different places as confirmed by the X-ray.”
The nursery took to Facebook, on Tuesday October 8, asking for donations to support his recovery.
Mr Zide was discharged from hospital on Thursday October 10, but he says he will need to return for check-ups.
Provincial health department spokesperson Megan Davids confirmed Mr Zide was admitted to Karl Bremer Hospital with injuries needing surgical intervention.
“In line with our patient and doctor confidentiality protocol, we are unable to comment on the specific details of the surgery. However, we can confirm that the patient has been discharged from our care on October 10.”
Mr Zide says he has not reported the case to the police because he has been in a lot of pain and he would be unable to recognise the men who attacked him.
