Eleven British school pupils, who were part of a group on a rugby and netball tour in South Africa, were attacked and robbed of R10 000 and 10 cellphones in Honeydew earlier this week, West Rand police said on Saturday.
”The pupils were having a farewell party at a house in Honeydew on Tuesday at about 11pm when eight men attacked them,” said Captain Siphiwe Ndlovu.
The men were armed with two handguns, two knives and two garden spades.
”They assaulted the owner of the house and the children before taking their handbags and cellphones,” said Ndlovu.
The robbers also took two laptops and a computer and fled the scene on foot. The children did not sustain serious injuries.
No shots were fired and the men were still at large, said Ndlovu.
The teenagers were part of a group of 42 British school children on a sports tour in South Africa.
Four South African children attending the party, were also attacked.
The tour group stayed at the Allen Glen High School on the West Rand.
The father of one of the South African children, 59-year-old Pierre Francois Boote, gave the party for the teenagers before they left for Sun City.
He told a British newspaper that the masked robbers charged into the house and forced the children into the lounge. He said one of the British girls, a pupil of the Bishop Stopford School in Northamptonshire, was dragged around by her hair while a firearm was held against her head.
The robbers assaulted Boote with a crow bar, but he still managed to call the Honeydew police. The robbers, however, fled on foot.
A spokesperson for the British High Commissioner in South Africa, Russ Dixon said the children were severely traumatised and received counselling.
He said their parents were very worried about them, but the tour would continue as planned.
The group was expected to go to Cape Town on Sunday and would return to the United Kingdom on August 8. — Sapa