Rest Pemhiwa took down a man robbing an elderly couple while on the beachfront in Port Elizabeth. During the scuffle, he was shot in the hip but managed to stop the man who was later arrested.
An elderly couple from the UK were sitting on a bench watching the ocean in Port Elizabeth when a man held them up and ripped the woman’s gold chain from her neck. As soon as he had the jewellery, he bolted off towards a taxi.
Rest Pemhiwa was driving along in a bakkie when he noticed what the mugger had done. Another man on a bicycle also saw what had happened and both men pursued the suspect. The mugger managed to get into a taxi to flee but Rest Pemhiwa refused to lose him and blocked the taxi from driving off.
Both men then removed the mugger from the taxi and attempted to restrain him to be arrested. During the scuffle, the muggers gun fired and hit Pemhiwa in the hip.
Pemhiwa and the man managed to restrain the criminal and retrieve the elderly woman’s chain. The police arrived and Pemhiwa was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for his gun wound.
A day after the incident, Cluster Commander for Mount Road, Maj Gen Thembisile Patekile paid Pemhiwa a visit to thank him for his heroic actions and for helping to apprehend the mugger.
“We need the good people like Pemhiwa from the community to help us and be the eyes and ears of the police. It is unfortunate that he was shot but it is good to know that his condition is not life-threatening. We appreciate his and the efforts of the other people that were involved in apprehending the suspect. We wish him a speedy recovery,’ -Cluster Commander, Maj Gen Patekile.
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