"We had just finished a live broadcast. Seconds later two guys walked up to us and started making small talk. They lifted the camera and became aggressive and they took the equipment," Jacobs told News24.

He and the camerawoman, Noluthando Hlophe, decided against fighting the two men after they threatened to pull a gun on them.

The men fled in a Honda parked nearby.

"It happened in a matter of seconds. It seems like these guys watched us. They knew that we had just finished with our live updates," he said.

The men took a camera, tripod, and microphone.

"Unfortunately this is what happens in journalism," he added.

SA National Editors’ Forum chairperson, Mpumelelo Mkhabela, said the assault and intimidation of journalists hampered their efforts to let people communicate with the powers that be.

"Journalists are the messengers who tell the stories of those who are protesting. Journalists should be allowed to access any part of the country. They are not there for their selfish interests. They are there to tell people's stories," he said.

News24 journalists, Jeff Wicks and Karabo Ngoepe, said police officers assaulted and intimidated them while they were covering protests in Ga-Rankuwa, Pretoria.

- News24.com