VIRAL VIDEO: South African girl wrestles with gun-wielding robbers because of her masters thesis

A brave South African student who couldn't stand a year extra in school fought to keep the only copy of her master's thesis during a robbery incident in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

26-year-old Noxolo Ntusi, a medical scientist at the National Health Laboratory Service, had her molecular zoology master's thesis on a hard drive when a car drove closer to her and two men jumped out, with one pointing a gun at her.

The medical scientist who was walking home when the incident occurred told to BBC: "There's no way I will let them take it.' She said her actions were "not very smart" and advised others to give robbers what they ask for. "You can always write again," she said.

The attackers who were only able to take her lunch bag struggled tirelessly to get hold of the other bag containing the hard drive, but Ms. Ntusi refused to let go.

She said: "I was thinking about my masters. I'm almost done with what I'm writing, there's no way I will let them take it. "I was just pulling myself into a ball. They were trying to put me in the car, I think, but I made myself so heavy that they just gave up."

During the attack, one of the robbers pointed a gun at her head and repeatedly threatened to shoot her. But Ms. Ntusi held on as losing the thesis 'would have meant having to ask for an extension until next year, she said.

According to the 26-year-old "I really want to finish so badly, I want to do it now. Nothing got in the way of that, but it was very dangerous," she said.

Ms. Ntusi has since backed up her work and said she would not advise others to follow her example in case of such incident.

The Footage of the struggle was recorded on security cameras attached to nearby homes in the suburb of Auckland Park. The robbers were later arrested and found to be in possession of a gas gun.

Watch the video from the incident below...