Wednesday, April 7, 2021

eNCA and eNuus reporter Monique Mortlock and camera operator Asanda Javu robbed at gunpoint in Khayelitsha, TV news crew struggles to report crime case to South African police after doing a live crossing about lack of service delivery in the area.


by Thinus Ferreira

A news reporting team from eNCA (DStv 403) and eNuus on kykNET (DStv 144) was robbed at gunpoint on Wednesday afternoon after which they also encountered problems at the nearest South African Police station where they tried to report the robbery.

eNCA reporter Monique Mortlock who also reports in Afrikaans for eNuus on kykNET was robbed along with camera operator Asanda Javu on Wednesday afternoon in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, just after she did a live crossing on eNCA's late afternoon The Lead timeslot about the ongoing lack of service delivery in the area.

"We were just robbed at gunpoint in Khayelitsha after doing a crossing," said Monique Mortlock on social media on Wednesday afternoon. "Now my colleague and I have to deal with an inept police officer telling us we can't open the case at this station - a 2 minute drive from where it happened - because it's not in their jurisdiction".

"I told this officer but it happened around the corner from this station, how can we not open a case here. He tells us to 'not be on top of him'. I told him we're both traumatised and just want this sorted so he said "I'm also traumatised".

Monique Mortlock said that "only when I told him we are journalists, then he took us to a higher ranking officer" and later than they were "being helped now. Everyone is being quite friendly now".