{"id":21676,"date":"2014-11-17T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-17T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/echonews.sites.caxton.co.za\/21676\/cowardly-youngsters-face-full-might-of-the-law\/"},"modified":"2015-06-23T11:49:41","modified_gmt":"2015-06-23T09:49:41","slug":"cowardly-youngsters-face-full-might-of-the-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/news-headlines\/2014\/11\/17\/cowardly-youngsters-face-full-might-of-the-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Cowardly youngsters face full might of the law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The deliveryman, Robbie Msimango, is at home with multiple fractures after having been attacked, beaten and kicked by five boys just before 22:00 on Friday, while out on a delivery.<\/p>\n<p>The youngsters phoned and ordered five large pizzas, which was to be delivered to 106 Helen Joseph Street, a house with an empty lot next door.<\/p>\n<p>They huddled in the dark lot, and once Mr Msimango pulled up, they attacked him. They pulled him from his scooter, assaulting him with a blunt instrument, and continued kicking and punching him, while he was writhing on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>The assault was so severe that Mr Msimango\u2019s helmet cracked and splintered, leaving large abrasions on his forehead.<\/p>\n<p>They however did not only focus their attention on Mr Msimango, they proceeded to kick his scooter, leaving it with broken head and tail lights, and serious damage to the body.<\/p>\n<p>Four of the cowards then fled the scene on foot, while a fifth, raced away on his black Big Boy motorcycle with a Harley shape, often seen in the open areas between Dennesig and Kanonkop.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_21678\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21678\" style=\"width: 423px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_564867936.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-21678\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_564867936-423x317.jpg\" alt=\"Mr Msimango was assaulted so brutally with a blunt object, that his helmet splintered and cracked, leaving him with large abrasions on his forehead, alongside hand fractures, bruised ribs and a swollen body, from all the blows and kicks. His scooter was also badly damaged. \" width=\"423\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_564867936-423x317.jpg 423w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_564867936-200x150.jpg 200w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_564867936.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-21678\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mr Msimango was assaulted so brutally with a blunt object, that his helmet splintered and cracked, leaving him with large abrasions on his forehead, alongside hand fractures, bruised ribs and a swollen body, from all the blows and kicks. His scooter was also badly damaged.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Not only did they steal the pizzas, they also took Mr Msimango\u2019s earnings for the day, which he says amounted to more than R800 cash.<\/p>\n<p>The brutal beating drew the attention of the house owners at 106, who rushed to Mr Msimango\u2019s assistance, after alerting the radio-group and paramedics.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the group rushed to the scene where they, according to Mr Shaun Fergusson, found Mr Msimango, described by shocked town folk as \u201chumble, friendly, hard working and peace loving,\u201d bleeding and moaning in the road.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/30661\/scooters-vyf-steeds-nie-vervolg\/\" target=\"_blank\">Opvolg: Scooters vyf steeds nie vervolg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>None were more shocked by the assault than Mr Geoffrey Sill, in whose garden Mr Msimango works on Thursdays, to top up his income.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Msimango, who lives at Doornkop, is financially supporting an unemployed, middle aged white man, who resides in a caravan on his property.<\/p>\n<p>As to why he does it, he said that he \u201cwould never turn his back on a fellow man in need\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Msimango phoned Mr Sill on Saturday, who immediately went to pick him up, for a J88 form to be filled in by a doctor, and to lay a criminal complaint with police.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_21679\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-21679\" style=\"width: 423px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_626421674.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-21679\" src=\"https:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_626421674-423x317.jpg\" alt=\"On Saturday, pieces of Mr Msimango's helmet, which splintered in the assault, were picked up in Helen Joseph Street, where the incident took place. \" width=\"423\" height=\"317\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_626421674-423x317.jpg 423w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_626421674-200x150.jpg 200w, https:\/\/dwu32cgxelq1c.cloudfront.net\/local_newspapers\/sites\/92\/2014\/11\/robbie_626421674.jpg 800w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 423px) 100vw, 423px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-21679\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">On Saturday, pieces of Mr Msimango&#8217;s helmet, which splintered in the assault, were picked up in Helen Joseph Street, where the incident took place.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>After dropping Mr Msimango off at Doornkop, he went home, told his wife Samantha about the heartless, racial attack of their landscaper, with whom they\u2019ve forged an enduring friendship.<\/p>\n<p>Sam, in turn, vented her anger on Facebook, drawing comment upon comment of shock and outrage.<\/p>\n<p>Residents drew together on the thread where Mr Msimango\u2019s bank account details were posted by the Sills.<\/p>\n<p>Van\u2019s Auto and MS Transport already contributed R500 each, with individuals contributing anything from R100 to R250, towards Mr Msimango\u2019s recovery fund.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis man is in service of the community, he financially supports businesses like Van\u2019s where he services his scooters, paid for by himself,\u201d an enraged Mr Sill told the Observer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t want these barbaric, irresponsible haters in our community, I believe jail time is in order,\u201d he echoed the sentiments of countless others.<\/p>\n<p>A very humbled Mr Msimango, expressed his heartfelt thanks to the community for the massive show of support.<\/p>\n<p>He will only return to work once his bruised ribs, shoulder bone, and hand fractures from trying to protect himself, have healed and doctors say four weeks, no less for this to happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 The youngsters now face assault with intent and armed robbery charges.<\/p>\n<p>\u2022 A Mark or Markus, placed the order from a cell number in possession of both the police and Observer. Police phoned the man, and he agreed to meet investigators over the weekend, but he never came. The Observer attempted phoning the number at regular intervals, but it remained unanswered.<\/p>\n<p>Read more similar stories here:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/14279\/assault-for-threatening-to-kill\/\" target=\"_blank\">Assault for &#8220;threatening&#8221; to kill<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/27635\/boy-assaulted-by-motorist\/\" target=\"_blank\">Boy assaulted by motorist<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/mobserver.co.za\/7789\/radio-group-denies-assault\/\" target=\"_blank\">Radio group denies assault<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The vicious attack on a Scooters pizza delivery man this weekend, has left Middelburg gasping in shock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":21677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hasGravity":false,"cxt_article_byline":"Gerhard Rheeder","cxt_disable_google_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2885,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-crime-news","category-news-headlines"],"category_labels":{"Category":"News","SubCategory":"Crime News"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/develop.citizen.co.za\/middelburg-observer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}