Mr Johan van Zyl suffered a number of deep lacerations to his head when he was assaulted at his business on Sunday morning.
Mr Johan van Zyl suffered a number of deep lacerations to his head when he was assaulted at his business on Sunday morning.
Mr Johan van Zyl’s pool of blood after he was severely beaten in his business on Saturday evening
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Owner of Cheekies assaulted
A brutal assault saw the community take the hunt on themselves for the suspect, a known criminal and drug addict.
Everyday you read or hear about how drugs ruin lives, but it’s not just the lives of the people that use them that are ruined, in some cases it is their victims who go through hardship – Mr Johan van Zyl, the owner of Cheekies, was one such victim when he was brutally assaulted in his business.
Early Sunday morning, at about 01:30, Van Zyl was locking up his shop after Saturday night’s business when he was attacked by a man.
He attempted to fight off his assailant but he was bested, beaten and left bleeding in his business, unconscious.
“I returned to the shop to find him lying there incapacitated, one of the car guards told me that he saw a man run out of the shop with a laptop in hand, get into Johan’s car and drive off almost running him over,” said Mr Gilbert Marume, Cheekies barman.
Van Zyl was taken to Witbank Provincial Hospital where he was treated for the severe wounds to his head, he also complained of back pain, presumably from being kicked in the back.
Marume spread the word that they were on the lookout for the man and asked community members and friends to call him the moment they spotted him.
On Monday evening at about 17:30 one of the car guards spotted him in the area of Extension 8 and notified Marume.
The man was sighted at a set of flats in the area and was attempting to get on top of a roof there when the community banded together to detain him.
He was brought to Cheekies where he was handcuffed to the security gate by sector policing as they awaited police to conduct the arrest.
“My husband is doing fine now, he has more than 40 stitches in his head, a Sister we know said that the wounds were very deep,” said wife, Ina.
She went on to say that she was fearful of returning to the shop with his assailant still out there as he could return at any time.
She was later relieved to find out that he had been caught and commended Gilbert, the community and sector police for their efforts in catching him.
“The first thing he said to me when I saw him Sunday was that he was assaulted and that everything including the set of keys to the business, his laptop and his car keys were taken. We had to change all the locks to the business and are still looking for my husband’s car,” said Ina.
The man was also suspected to have been involved in armed robberies that Monday during the day in Impala Street, a witness positively identified him.
He was accompanied by two other suspects who were loading valuables onto a bakkie.
After hearing of the assault from friends a family member of the man contacted WITBANK NEWS concerned about what her nephew had done.
“For a few months he stayed in Winterton where he was charged with a number of cases of theft, his case went to court and he was supposed to have gone to rehab for a year but escaped overnight, he was then recaptured by the police and again escaped custody,” his aunt said.
She went on to say that he had been on the run for about a month and was known to have a drug addiction problem.
“I believe he came to Witbank after disappearing from Winterton on Thursday, we need to sort this child out justice needs to be done,” she said.
She added
“Because I am the aunt I know it’s not the right thing to do but he needs to be brought to count for what he has done. It’s the first time he has actually lashed out and brutally hurt somebody like this, but what about the next time?”
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