Calum Aimes, a Grade 10 JG Meiring High School pupil, says he was standing with his friend, fellow Grade 10 Igshaan Gamildien, outside the school gates last Thursday when a man took Igshaan’s phone.
Calum claims the man and a second perpetrator assaulted him when he tried to get the phone back.
The 16-year-old’s mother, Lyntina Aimes, says she didn’t open an assault case because Calum and Igshaan can’t identify the attackers, but Northern News tracked down two pupils at the school who claim to have witnessed the incident.
Also, the school principal, Theodore Linderts, says a theft case was opened with Goodwood police and the incident was reported to education authorities, but Goodwood police told Northern News on Friday and again on Monday that they had no record of a mugging outside the school.
Calum said he and Igshaan had noticed a man trying to flirt with a female pupil outside the school shortly after 3pm.
“The man turned his attention to us and asked if he could make a missed call on my friend’s phone.”
Calum said he had grabbed the man’s arm when he had tried to walk off with Igshaan’s Huawei P8 Lite.
“I then pushed him against the fence as I saw him searching for something in his pocket, which I thought could possibly be a knife. I grabbed his other arm as he tried hitting me.”
Calum said another man had walked past and kicked him. Both men had hit him about ten times.
“Eventually they stopped and just walked off.”
A JG Meiring pupil, who doesn’t want to be named, said Calum had been bleeding afterwards.
“They just hit him and walked off like nothing happened,” the pupil said.
The pupil said Mr Linderts, had sent out letters to parents about the incident.
Another pupil who spoke to the Northern News on condition we did not publish their name said they had been standing behind the school gate when Calum was attacked.
“We should feel safe at school, but we don’t. The homeless aren’t the ones committing these crimes; it’s people who loiter in the area. There are many dodgy people who walk past our school on a daily basis.”
Ms Aimes, said it wasn’t the first time Calum had been set upon by muggers.
“Two weeks ago, a similar incident happened to them close to McDonald’s after some buggers also tried to rob them,” she said.
Delinquents loitered in a park opposite the school, smoking dagga, and they had tried to rob several school pupils of their phones, she said.
Ms Aimes said she had gone to Goodwood police station on Thursday October 11 but had decided against opening a case. She said an officer had told her she could do so later if she changed her mind.
Both Calum and his mother said Igshaan’s parents had opened a theft case, but Goodwood police spokesman Captain Waynne Theunis said he could find no record of it.
He said the police warned pupils regularly about the dangers of openly displaying their phones.
“The robbers’ modus operandi includes going up to pupils and asking them for the time and then stealing their cellphones or asking them if they can listen to music on their phones, which also leads to the theft of their cellphones. Please walk in groups. Don’t walk alone because you will be targeted by criminals,” he said.
Speaking to the Northern News on Monday October 15, Mr Linderts said: “The matter has been referred to Safer Schools Programme and a case has been opened at Goodwood police station. The school views safety as being of paramount importance on its premises. We need to further conscientize our pupils about safety when travelling home. We wish this type of crime does not occur again. It is rather unfortunate. The school takes a proactive stance on this issue.”
Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Education MEC Debbie Schafer, did not respond to questions by the time this edition went to print.