The following is an interview conducted by our Todd Group Germany Chief Instructor: Ken Oesterreich of a women and her husband that were targets of a violent assault.
This assault included the husband being held at knife edge and multiple male aggressors attempting to rape his wife.
Ken who conducted this interview along with Keith another Todd Group instructor had previously trained this lady in our self-defence including DWAR skills.
The names of the brave husband and wife in question will not be disclosed but they will be referred to as Fred and Wilma in this file. This in another life threating assault in South Africa that good people we have trained like Todd Group instructor and proponent Leo Prinsloo who foiled an armed heist.
On behalf of the Todd Group I would like to thank you both for consenting to this interview and commend you on your tenacity in overcoming life threatening adversity.
The nature of the assault
Could you please tell us what you were doing to prior to the attack?
Prior to the attack, we were at Camps Bay. We were there to see the sunset after Fred had finished work for the day. Before the sun was down we decided to head back and have a nice night in. So we took an uber (which is the safest way to get around) to go back to our apartment, with a quick stop at the ‘‘Myciti Bus Main Station’’, to get our Bus Cards.
In what area of town did the assault happen?
The attack happened in Cape Town, CBD, in a very open and public place with a lot of people around.
When did it happen?
The assault happened on Tuesday the 2nd of August 2022, late afternoon.
How long did the attack actually last and how did you perceive time while under attack?
The attack lasted about 10-15min, where we fought with a big group of men of at least 10-12+ men. After we fought our way out we sprinted for about 5-10min before we got to safety in a small mall, where we met some people (a young man and his grandmother) who helped drive us to the police station.
When and how did you become aware of the attackers? Can you remember any pre-assault indicators that you could be in danger?
Fred felt that something was off from the moment the uber driver said and insisted; that the place he stopped was the Myciti Bus Main Station. Fred was holding the car door open because he wanted to quickly scan the area. However, just as Fred started to say that this was the wrong place and we wanted to go back to our apartment, the uber driver drove off very quickly.
We then walked to the ticketing building, there was a lot of light inside and cameras, so we wanted to go in and get a new uber to go back to the apartment. However, as we almost got inside, a man came up to us and told us that they were about to close, so we had to go around to the side of the building instead, if we wanted to buy a ticket for tomorrow. However, Fred felt that something was completely off, and we decided to go back towards the apartment and get away from that place. However, we could not go to the right as there was a wall, so instead we wanted to go back from the way we came and cross the road, but a few men were standing on that path. So we decided to go left instead, towards the KFC on the building corner and then cross the grass up to the road and across. But then, that’s when they all came from the back and attacked us.
How did the attackers approach you?
The group of attackers approached us from behind. They then surrounded us both and quickly tried to seperate us
Could you please outline in as much detail as possible how the assault started and developed?
On Tuesday the 2nd of August 2022, Fred (my husband) and I were unfortunately assaulted and robbed by a very violent gang of about 10+ african men. They also attempted a gang rape on me by at least 5+ of the men.
We were on our way home to our apartment. However, we wanted to make a quick stop at the Myciti Bus Main Station, which was on the way and relatively close to where we live. When we were in the uber, we had not thought about the uber driver who had taken a phone call in a different language while he was driving us. He came to a stop and said insistently that this was the place and that we were just to go inside the building, that was where the main station was. Fred was half out the door looking at the place, and said
‘’I think this is the wrong place, and we would like to just go to a different address, our apartment on Smith street’’
However, the uber driver just drove off as Fred was still holding the car door open. We started walking towards the building, wanting to get a different uber to get back to our apartment. However, as we approached, a man came up and said that the ticket office was closing and they had to close the doors. Fred said, it doesn’t feel right, we should just go back as fast as possible, we decided to turn around, to our right was a building wall, behind us as we turned around some men were standing on the path. Therefore we decided to go left, past the KFC, cross the lawn and cross the road on foot. As we were walking, we decided to walk at a ‘normal’ pace as we did not want to seem like we were rushing or on-edge.
The men quickly came up and I remember looking to the side and seeing two men on either side of Fred, holding both of his arms. At that exact moment I was about to ask what’s happening in danish. But then suddenly there were at least 5 men who started to carry me away. A man on each leg and three men behind me, carrying my upper body and arms in an attempt to try and carry me away, separating us. They were heading towards a park around the corner, and right that second I knew what they were trying to do, they were going to do everything they could to rape me. Their hands were all over my entire body, trying to take all of my clothes off, ripping, pulling, scratching, etc.
Behind me my husband was held at knife point, and the man that was holding the knife to Freds’ throat said to him, threateningly:
‘’Do not move, do not do anything, do not say anything!! We are going to rob you, then kill you, and then we will take your wife away and rape her.’’
They tried to seperate us, and as soon as Fred saw that, he started to fight with them in order to get to me. As I was being lifted away by the group of attackers, I started yelling at the top of my lungs as soon as it happened. I was yelling to make sure that the people surrounding us in the area would know that something was happening, in order for us to get the best chance of getting outside help. I was yelling ‘STOP and NO’ as this is something that almost everybody understands. As soon as they lifted me, I also just started kicking and punching to get my feet on the ground as fast as possible. Once I broke out of most of their tight grips on me, and got my feet on the ground, I started aiming for their knees and balls. I had used my knee so much and with so much force that I bruised my knee caps.
Because Wilma started yelling so much and so loud, two of the men tried to strangle her. But she got out of that too by grabbing the one guy’s wrist and the other guy’s throat/neck, with her acrylic nails that Wilma had had done the day before, for our wedding anniversary. She kept pressing so hard until she felt her finger nails break through their skin and they started yelling and let go, which then meant that she could keep yelling ‘‘STOP’’ and ‘’NO’’.
As the men were trying to get my clothes off, they had managed to open my jacket, ripped my shirt and they were all over my body. They had managed to get my pants unbuttoned and unzipped, but thankfully they couldn’t get my belt off (my leather belt had clear signs of the intensive scratches in the leather from the attempts they had at trying to get my belt off of me). They were aggressively trying to pull my pants down, there was a man from the front and another from the back that were pulling as hard as they could to try and get my pants off of me.
There was one man that Wilma could not get out of his grip, because she was completely and closely surrounded by the men attacking her. Luckily an elderly man came out of nowhere, and hit the one man who had the very tightest grip on her. This gave Wilma the split second to break away from that man’s grip and she turned around and kneed him in the balls and kicked his knee from the side right after.
Fred was fighting off all the men around him, he was punched a lot in the ribs, also hit with at least one metal pipe piece. They also tried to stab him several times but thankfully they never succeeded. His whole t-shirt was cut from the chest down with one of the knives. Fred stood his ground, and used punching with both his fists and his elbows in order to fight back the attackers. All around Fred there was a lot of blood, which came from the attackers as he had punched a few of their noses as hard as he could. Once Fred fought his way out of the attackers surrounding him, he ran over to me, yelling aggressively at the attackers who had their grip on me. Fred grabbed my arm and yanked me out and away from the group and we ran for 5-10 minutes, then went straight to the police station with the help of a friendly young man and his grandmother.
We fought for at least 10-15 minutes with them. Afterwards we checked for what they stole from us, and it was insane that they only managed to steal Freds’ phone and a pair of my earrings. They tried to get our wedding rings and my engagement ring, but they didn’t manage to get them off of us. Wilma had locked her ring fingers into her palms so hard that she had a huge indent and was really bruised, but they never managed to break her clenched fist lock. Fred also had a lot of cash in his pocket and they didn’t get a dime of that either, or the other things we had in our pockets, like keys, visa card, etc. They also got Wilma’s smartwatch, but she somehow got hold of the watch again and held on to it, trying to get it back. I shouted to her ‘’It doesn’t matter about the watch’’, but she thought ‘’I’m not letting them get this too’’, shortly after I fought my way out and came running over to her and she somehow managed to get the watch it back. Wilma thinks it was because when I came running I yelled, and she thinks this startled/frightened the guy who had the watch, because I was looking directly at him in fury.
Throughout the attack, we kept looking and trying to face each other during our attack. We constantly tried to get as close as possible to each other so that if we had the opportunity to help each other, we would have the best chance of managing to get away and making it out alive. We also attempted to try and stay close to the KFC and not get too far around the corner as there were cameras in and around the KFC. We thought it was the best because it could give the investigators the best chance to catch the men who did this, if we survived the attack and managed to get away.
Throughout the attack, Fred kept shouting to me, telling me that it’s all going to be okay, and that we are going to make it out, and that he would come to me and get me out. This helped keep my head as cool as possible in the situation, and it helped me to keep fighting, even though the attackers just kept coming and attacking me. It felt like it was never-ending because there were so many, and once we got one of the attackers hold off of us, then it felt like two more got a new hold on us.
We were later been told by the police investigators, the day after the attack, that the attackers were from a Nigerian/Tanzanian gang. This gang was known for killing (either by knives or guns), then robbing, and the girls that they attack are never found again. The police said that they have never heard of an attack by them in this magnitude, it has previously been 1-3 people vs the victims they attack. But this was planned/organized with the uber driver. Also the attack started at the exact moment of the only 5 minute time period where all the street police switch and aren’t on the streets for those 5 minutes. It all seemed very speculative and organized, which the police/investigators found very unsettling.
How did the attackers conduct themselves?
They operated as a group, they all spoke the same language and they were communicating to each other under/during the attack. They swarmed us both, and tried to separate us.
I am especially interested in the skills and techniques you used for self-protection and self defense. Could you please describe the actual skills that you used? Which targets did you attack and did you singley or repeatedly attack the targets?
Wilma: I attempted to punch and elbow, but had trouble with it because they kept grabbing my arms so I was like ‘’Locked-in’’ sort of. I also kicked and kneed the attackers aiming for their knees and balls. I used my nails to get/force the men, who were trying to strangle and silence me, to let go of my throat. I also used the different techniques that I learnt in self-defense in order to try and get out of the tight grip the one guy had on me from behind. I tried to use my weight, gravity and hips to thrust back and away from his grip, but I was challenged as I was completely surrounded and restricted and could not do it entirely to get the best thrust. I counter-attacked using all of these techniques as much and as often as possible. I also tried to constantly be resisting them and moving, to try and minimize their chance of getting a too-tight grip on me.
Fred: I mainly punched and used whatever I could (like my elbows) to hit and get the attackers off of me, in order to get to my wife and save her, so that we could get away. I hit as often as I could, and tried to keep moving towards Wilma, as forceful as I could. Because there were so many attackers, it was hard to aim for specific targets, therefore I hit where I could. Meaning that it was mainly upper body targets; stomach/abdomen, chest, ribs, face, throat, etc.
How did the attackers react and respond to your aggressive counterattack? Were they surprised, did it make them hesitate or get more aggressive?
The attackers were very surprised and some hesitated even, however some of them also got more aggressive. But because we kept counter-attacking aggressively and rapidly, it seemed that they had to try harder and different ways to get us to stop our counter-attack. It felt like that sort of made their attack in some way ‘‘scramble’’ a bit for them, not really sure how to describe it.
How much actual self defense training did you receive and when was your Last actual Training Session?
Wilma: Last time I got actual Training session was 10 years ago with Ken and Keith in the DWAR anit-rape self-defence course, which I have been to twice.
Fred: I have never had any training sessions in self-defense.
Are there any other aspects of your personality / approach to life that might have helped you in this dangerous situation?
Both Fred and I are both quite competitive, determined and disciplined, and we definitely do not like to lose. We are also both very stubborn and we don’t ever give up. We always go all in working hard and fighting with everything we have to reach our goals at, especially when we are pressured to the maximum. We are both people who can act fast and make quick decisions when necessary.
We also both like to stay fit too, we train at the gym averagely 4 days a week, so we are physically strong, especially Fred. Additionally we have also always been good at working together, as we compliment each other very well and have known each other for quite some years now. All of this combined we think helped us in the dangerous situation we were in, because we didn’t hesitate. Instead we acted fast and started instantly to fight their attack, which we think startled them and confused/made them hesitate.
Did you, at any point in time, have any doubt that you wouldn’t make it out alive?
At one point I (Wilma), remember thinking: ‘’I don’t know how we are going to get away from this?’’, because we were completely surrounded and the men/attackers just kept coming and grabbing my arms, legs, body, and I couldn’t shake them off. Once I got free from the grip of one man, someone else just grabbed me again and even tighter. But just as I had had that thought, shortly after Fred and I made eye contact and he shouted:
‘’Don’t worry, we are going to get away from this. I will come and save/get you.’’.
When I looked towards Fred that one time, I could see they were holding back his arms and just punching him directly in the stomach and ribs. At another point I saw that Fred elbowed one of the attackers in the stomach and instantly after he used that placement of the elbow in the stomach to swing his fist up and punch the attacker straight in the face. There was also a moment where I also saw the knife just before they attempted to stab him. I just remember thinking ‘’Shit, this is really really bad.’’. It was either we are going to make it alive or we are not, but I was for sure going to use everything that I had to fight for my life. I was going to make sure that I put up my best fight and did everything I could to make sure that they didn’t get me, but if they did it would not have been without difficulty and a serious fight.
Did you have any self defense Training in the past? If yes, please specify. Do you play any competitive Sports , combat sports or martial arts?
Fred: None, and I have never been in any competitive or combat/martial sports/arts.
How would you describe your own personality in terms of competitiveness / Aggression?
Fred: I would say that I am competitive in nature, but not normally aggressive.
Wilma: I would say that I am very competitive and can get aggressive when I want to win, especially in sports.
You were attacked with an edged weapon. Could you please describe that particular attack as detailed as possible?
They had a knife to my (Fred), throat and had 2-3 guys on each arm holding me back, then they threatened me and said:
‘’Do not move, do not do anything, do not say anything!! We will rob you, then kill you and then take your wife away and rape her!!’’.
After I saw that they were carrying my wife away, I knew that I had to do everything in my power to make sure that I could save Wilma, no matter the cost. I had to save her or almost ‘die trying’, because I was not going to watch them take her, and rape her. I didn’t care what happened to me, just as long as I could get to her and get away to safety.
The knife they had up to my throat, I somehow managed to knock it away and during the attack. Wilma remembers seeing someone trying to stab me, the knife was about 10-15 cm in length and had a black handgrip. Somehow when they tried to stab me I managed to pull away or block it somehow, I don’t quite remember how but they never managed to stab me. After the attack, when we got to safety, I could see that I had a clear knife cut in my shirt, from my chest all the way down. I think they also used the handgrip on the knife to hit my ribs as I had bad bruising on my ribs, with the similar shape of a knife shaft.
How did you manage to save your wife?
After a long fight with the men attacking me, I finally managed to fight my way out from them and their grip, and I ran over towards Wilma as fast as I possibly could. I then grabbed her arms and pulled her out of the attacker’s grip on them. As I was running over to her, I was yelling/shouting at them and I think it frightened them because I was not scared of them or of hurting them, if it was in order to save Wilma. Once I got a hold of her, we ran and kept running full sprint until we got to safety. The attackers had followed us for a while, but once we crossed the big road, they stopped and we kept running for some time. 5-10 minutes later when we were clear of the attackers for a while, that’s when we stopped to catch a quick break to catch our breath and orient ourselves.
When you finally made it to safety, could you please describe the direct aftermath of the Attack ( emotionally, psychologically and physically)?
Immediately after the attack, we both felt relieved and so shocked. It felt as if it didn’t happen and wasn’t real because the situation was so extreme that we couldn’t believe we fought our way out, and that we were both physically alright despite bruises, scratches and pain from the attack.
Physically we were shocked, and Wilma was trembling and got a really bad anxiety attack. Our bodies were in a lot of pain from the punches, and injuries that they inflicted us. Fred couldn’t breathe when we got to safety, because he had been punched in the stomach several times and hit with a metal pipe around his ribs, and he fought through all of it.
By the way, Fred, if you have had prior martial arts or self defense training, did you use these particular skills, or did you refer to other options?
No, I have never had any martial, combat or any form of self-defense training whatsoever. I have only trained in the gym to stay fit, so luckily that strength helped us through the situation as we fought.
In any case please describe the skills you used in detail, as well as against which particular attacks.
The main skills that I used, as far as I (Fred) can remember, was that I punched with my fists, hit with my elbows and used muscle force as much as possible to counter-attack.
Fred and Wilma as the Todd Group Master-Chief Instructor I applaud you on your bravery and willingness in the face of life threatening danger. Your ability to so clearly recall details of the situation and your actions taken is testament to you both being able to overcome the effects of the dangerous situation you faced and by means of controlled aggression ensure you could escape.
The levels of intestinal fortitude you both mustered while maintaining control under assault can only be described as exceptional under the circumstances. Your strength of mind and controlled aggression enabled you both to get yourselves out of life threatening danger and is testament to your mental toughness and practical decision making.
Neither of you gave in under the extreme threat of multiple armed and unarmed criminal assaulters, you both fought hard by the best means at your disposal and it was your combined mental toughness and practical combative decision making and employment of your decided counter actions that decided your fate and the best outcome possible under extreme danger.
There would be a lot of people that would not be able to overcome such life threatening realities and I salute you both for your bravery and practical smarts.
Respect
Geoff ”Tank” Todd
Master-Chief Instructor
Todd Group
