Navy men in 'sjambok attacks'

08 September 2015 - 02:13 By Shanaaz Eggington

Two South African Navy members suspected of whipping cyclists and a jogger with a sjambok were arrested in Cape Town yesterday. The two men, both 26, will appear in Simon's Town Magistrate's Court tomorrow on charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that seven cases were being investigated, involving six cyclists and a runner in the southern peninsula.In one incident, Professor William Ferris, a biochemist from Stellenbosch University, was cycling on Glencairn Expressway at about 6.30am on Saturday when he was attacked."I never even heard the car. I just felt this terrible lash across my back. I nearly fell off my bike. Then a silver VW Polo with three occupants passed me. One of them was still leaning out of the window with what looked like a sjambok in his hands."A few minutes later, Erik Wöhler, from Noordhoek, was attacked on the main road into Simon's Town. "I was cycling past the Dido Valley cemetery when I felt this burning pain from my back to the front of my chest. I stopped and then I saw the car with the hand and whip sticking out the window ... the skin on my chest was ripped open."When Wöhler visited Simon's Town Police Station to lay a charge, he was told five other people had reported similar attacks.Navy spokesman Lieutenant Obed Medupe said: "The members are presently in SAPS custody. We cannot release their names at this stage as they have yet to appear in court."Military police and other naval personnel had helped the police find and arrest the suspects...

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