A young European traveller who stayed in Hermanus recently says he was shocked when he found out the owner of the establishment where he was staying is accused of raping a number of females who reportedly also stayed at the surf lodge in Hermanus between the period of 2014 and 2022.
“I had been staying with him for a while when I made the discovery. When I confronted him about it, he went off on a tangent, saying he is a big name in international surfing and this is all a conspiracy against him. Never once did he say he’s not guilty,” the tourist stated. “Someone who is innocent would immediately deny it but he just made up a story and said the articles are old.”
Concerned about the serious allegations he did more research around the subject and informed various authorities about it.
“I found out he doesn’t have a license to give surfing lessons,” the man said. A woman who stayed at the same establishment in Hermanus at the time says she never felt unsafe with the surf instructor but felt “there’s something off about him”.
“When I found out about the allegations, I felt like I had a dodged a bullet by not staying there alone,” she stated. “It’s insane that guests are still staying there, the majority of them girls travelling on their own.”
Both the man and woman stated that they reported the matter to AirBnB who immediately removed the establishment’s advertisement. “He changed the listing and now the address does not correspond,” the man claimed.
They were shocked to discover that the surf instructor’s name was not Robz as listed or James as he had introduced himself. “I noticed him on Bumble, a dating app where he states that he is 35 when he is actually 45,” the tourist said. He added: “This guy doesn’t seem very intelligent and is mentally very immature. In general he has a very disrespectful way of talking about women.”
Both the man and woman say they are extremely concerned about the fact that the surf instructor has not been identified as they believe “he is a danger to society”.
