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Sports Reporter
HIGHLANDERS’ secretary-general Emmett Ndlovu lost cash and other valuables in a brazen armed robbery at Longmeadow in the Johannesburg suburb of Edenvale on Tuesday last week.

According to an affidavit Ndlovu submitted at the Linden Police Station close to Randburg on the day of the robbery, Ndlovu indicated that he was accosted by gunmen who robbed him of $300, P300 and R25,000 in his possession.

“Soon after the robbery, I reported the matter at Sebenza Police Station (in Edenvale) where a docket was opened. By the time I wrote this affidavit, I had not received the case number,” read Ndlovu’s affidavit dated September 29.

It could not be established whether Ndlovu was in South Africa on official club or personal business when he was robbed as he could not be reached for comment last night. Ndlovu was robbed on the day South African Police Minister Nathi Nhleko released the country’s crime statistics in parliament which showed that violent crime was spiralling.

The official stats revealed that 17,805 people were murdered in the country between April 1, 2014, and March 31, 2015, at an average of 49 per day. Nhleko partly attributed the high crime rate in South Africa to rising drug and alcohol abuse, adding that police alone were unable to resolve it and needed the assistance of families and communities as it was a social problem.

He said there had been a sharp increase in violent crime, including attempted murder, assault and armed robbery, with statistics showing that 353 robberies were reported every day in South Africa.