Two North Wales students were subjected to a horrifying attack by men wielding knives in South Africa. The two women, one from Flintshire and the other from Gwynedd, were on a woodland eco trail in Knynsa when they were robbed.
The pair, who are in their early 20s, only flew out to the country on Friday as part of a six-week work placement through the University of Chester.
The women – one from Flintshire and the other from Gwynedd – have not been named. They were on a woodland eco trail with a female project coordinator in Knysnsa when they were robbed of their money, passports and phones by three men.
The university works alongside the Edge of Africa volunteer project which helped coordinate the work placement in the country.
A spokesman for the organisation said: “Two students from Chester University and one project coordinator volunteering on community and conservation projects in Knysna, South Africa, were victims of an aggravated robbery whilst working in the Kayalethu area of the township on Tuesday.
“The robbery was carried out by three men, one carrying a knife, which he threatened to use.
“The victims were involved in conservation work, clearing alien vegetation and were carrying pangas (large but blunt blades for cutting branches), which were snatched from them in the incident but which were not used against them.
“All the victims lost valuable possessions, cash and documents but, very fortunately, none of the victims was physically harmed.”
He added: “All the Edge of Africa team deeply regret that this should have happened to the students in our town and we are deeply concerned to prevent this very regrettable incident from affecting the overall quality of the students’ experience with us.
“Edge of Africa is committed to ensuring the safety of all our volunteers at all times and we have never before had an incident involving robbery or the threat of violence.
“We have rigorous security and risk assessment processes in place and we monitor and review these on an ongoing basis. The safety of our programmes is reflected in a long list of individual and group clients who have placed their trust in us over a number of years, notably University of Chester whose students have benefited from participating on our projects for the past seven years.
“This is the first incident we have had in 10 years’ experience working on the township but it is nevertheless one more than we would want to have had.”
The spokesman said full reports were made to the police on the evening of the robbery.
So far, one mobile phone has been recovered and two arrests have been made.
He continued: “We will of course provide full practical support to the victims in replacing their travel documents and possessions, and all the student volunteers, whether they were affected directly or not, have been offered trauma counselling and support on an ongoing basis through their stay as they individually feel is necessary.
“Without exception the students have affirmed their desire not to allow this incident to detract from the value and enjoyment of their volunteering experience.
“With immediate effect we will be implementing additional safety and security measures where we think it is appropriate.”…
South Africa Today – South Africa News
