A South African TV reporter was mugged by two men while waiting to go on air Tuesday evening. The incident was recorded by SABC News cameras as the network was just about to go to a live ground report.
Broadcaster Vuyo Mvoko was outside of hospital in Johannesburg reporting on the condition of Zambia’s President, Edgar Lungu, after the Zambian leader collapsed at an event on Sunday.
Moments before he was slated to go on the air, Mvoko was robbed by two men who apparently threatened him with a gun.
According to South African police, the men stole numerous laptops and cellphones from the news crew. Evidently, they were not concerned about mugging the crew in front of rolling cameras.
The thieves demanded Mvoko’s cell phone. Mvoko told SABC, “Because I wasn’t giving him the phone, he then called the other one who had a gun, and said: ‘Dubula le nja’ [Shoot this dog].”
No arrests have been made yet. Mvoko told BBC News, “Hopefully someone will be able to identify them and get them arrested.”