Hitman and Nestor ‘hit’ by thieves in Jo’burg

NAMIBIAN lightweight world boxing champion Paulus ‘Hitman’ Moses and trainer Nestor Tobias, were robbed of N$12 000 in cash and several other valuables after boarding a taxi at the OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg on Tuesday morning.

The two were due to attend the launch of Dingaan Thobela’s book ‘The Rose of Soweto’ on the same night.However, on their way to their Parktown hotel in central Johannesburg they ended up in an armed robbery.Tobias told The Namibian Sport from Johannesburg yesterday that they were both held at gunpoint by four bogus policemen who stopped their taxi .’Our car was in the slow lane and there was a car in the fast lane driving parallel with us,’ Tobias said. ‘The driver flashed something to our driver, and he stopped right on the highway. There were four guys in the other car.’They all jumped out and produced guns. One said this is a robbery. I had R12 000 cash which they took together with our jewellery and cellphones. They gave us back our passports, jumped back into their car and sped off.’Tobias, who is dubbed as the ‘The Don King of Namibia’, lost his gold watch, bracelet, necklace and two cellphones, while the champion boxer had to give up his wallet with all his credit cards, a bracelet, necklace and a cellphone, including a N$60.’The only thing they gave us back were our passports,’ he added.Tobias said they decided to board the taxi, which did not have a sign, after their attempts of calling their host Thobela were all in vain.’Dingaan’s cellphone was off and we decided to take a cab to the city because we knew where we wanted to be. But on our way, I asked the taxi driver why his taxi had no sign on and he said it was expensive to display such a sign, but we saw it lying in his boot. We decided to jump in and we left. About 15 minutes later on our way, the driver made a call and in a short while we were stopped by these bogus policemen who flashed a blue light at us. The rest is history as they say,’ said Tobias. He said the robbers demanded nothing from their driver. ‘I asked him to take us to the nearest police station to open a case. He took us to Bedfordview where we opened a case. We were as calm as cucumbers,’ said Tobias.When asked why he was carrying so much cash, Tobias said the money was meant to buy boxing equipment for his academy.’I was carrying it because in over 10 years that I lived in Johannesburg as a professional boxer, I was never robbed at gunpoint or mugged. I have carried money on me before and for me it was just another normal day. But I was wrong,’ he said.’But in life, money comes and money goes and this can happen to anyone, I just hope that at least something will be done to bring the culprits to book,’ he said.Moses is set to defend his World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title fight against Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera early next year.The two were expected back in the country later yesterday.corry@namibian.com.na