Athlete, 60, escapes rape

A 60-year-old member of the Zulu royal family has escaped rape four times in the past six months while training for ultra marathons in Mtubatuba on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast.

Ntombiyezwi Zulu, King Goodwill Zwelithini's relative, put on her running shoes in 1978, but her hardest challenge has not been gruelling road races.

She, like hundreds of South African runners who take to the roads early each morning and late in the evening, are falling prey to roadside criminals.

Last week two runners were robbed of their watches in Westville in Durban. Four joggers also lost their running shoes and sunglasses to robbers in Hillcrest a month ago.

Zulu yesterday looked back fondly on her running days, but was terrified when she remembered the four occasions when she ended up "running for my life".

On Sunday, she won the title in her age category of the 10km Zululand District Municipality Marathon.

"Before the attempted rape attacks, I would wake at 4am and start training," Zulu said.

"One morning a boy, young enough to be my grandson, approached me and told me that he had been watching me train in the past and my level of fitness made him want to have sex with me. He then tried to grab me but I fought him and freed myself."

A few days later, another boy tried to rape her. This time, she was saved by a motorist. On the third occasion she was rescued by a security guard.

"The last attempt was early this year. Two boys grabbed me from behind and pulled me towards the bush. As I fought them, one of them hit me with a blunt object on the head.

"They saw lights coming towards our direction and they ran. I am now not training in the morning because I fear these boys, but I still have to train for the Comrades Marathon this year.

"I have been lucky four times already and I doubt if I will escape the fifth attempt," she said.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Colonel Vincent Mdunge confirmed that Zulu had reported one case of attempted rape.

Athletics South Africa road running commission chairman James Moloi said the organisation had not received any reports of runners being attacked on the roads.

Cycling South Africa spokesman Mylene Loumeau said cyclists were also targeted by criminals while training. She said their bikes, which cost between R12000 and R80000, were stolen and sold for a "few hundred rand".