A Durban man, 79, is undergoing ARV treatment after he was bitten into submission during a struggle with an intruder.
|||Durban - A
79-year-old eManzimtoti man, bitten into submission as he wrestled for a gun with an intruder in his home, is undergoing antiretroviral treatment.
He is one of the latest victims of a crime wave sweeping the area south of Durban. Residents say they are under siege by heavily armed thugs who have shot and assaulted victims in separate hijacking and house robbery attacks in recent weeks.
More than 10 hijackings and up to three house robberies a day have been reported in the past month.
Three armed men stormed into George Warrior’s Syringa Avenue home last week, making off with goods worth at least R300 000 after terrorising him and his wife, Maureen, 67, for more than an hour.
Warrior said his wife was leaving for gym at 6am when the robbers confronted her.
“I was in bed when I heard her screaming. As I ran downstairs, a gunman confronted me. I feared for Maureen’s life and got into a tussle with him. I tried to wrestle the gun from him.”
Warrior said the robber bit into his arm during the struggle.
“I felt the most excruciating pain and had to surrender.
“They then brought Maureen into the house and ordered us to lie on the floor.”
He said they were tied up with rope and covered with a duvet.
“They were in the house for more than an hour. They ransacked all the rooms and stole more than R300 000 worth of jewellery, electronic equipment and other smaller stuff.
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They kept asking where I kept the cash. One of them suggested I get shot in the legs so I would talk. They took R500 from Maureen’s wallet before loading the stuff in her car and fleeing.”
Warrior said that when the robbers left he pressed the panic button and the private security company, police and the eManzimtoti Community Crime Prevention Organisation (CCPO) arrived within minutes. The car was recovered an hour later in Illovo.
In another incident last week Juanita Jonck of St Winifreds said she was walking to the entrance of her Dagwood Crescent home when her father, Johan du Plooy, began screaming. A year ago, he had been shot in the leg during a botched hijacking in Warner Beach.
“I turned around and stared straight into the barrel of a gun. My mom, Susan, who came to see what the commotion was about, was also held at gunpoint.”
Jonck said she then saw her two children – aged four and nine – walking towards them.
“There was no way I was going to let my children have a gun shoved in their face. I ran towards them. I grabbed them, ran outside and threw them over the fence into my neighbour’s yard.”
She then went back inside the house. “Fortunately, the robbers fled. They got away in my car.”
Jonck said she called 10111.
“The car was tracked to Umbumbulu and a shoot-out ensued with police. The men fled into the bushes with my laptop.”
Her car was riddled with bullets and was declared a write-off.
“My family is living in fear for their lives.
“This has been our family home for 33 years and nothing like this has ever happened,” Jonck said.
The statistics of more than 10 hijackings reported in the past month, and of almost three housebreakings a day, came from the CCPO.
Crime fighter and voluntary CCPO member, George Snowdey, said a task team needed to be deployed to the area immediately to hunt down the criminals.
“We are under siege and nothing is being done.
“It seems like police management only spring into action when someone is killed,” he said.
Snowdey said police needed to tell them what they were doing about crime in the area. “The entire community is nervous. We are living on edge. The reality is anyone can be a victim at any time.”
He said hijackings were steadily on the increase and police needed to stop dragging their heels.
“These armed thugs are coming in from Umbumbulu, uMlazi and Lamontville. With the right resources deployed, they can be arrested.”
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman, Colonel Vincent Mdunge, said they were unaware of a crime wave in eManzimtoti.
“According to crime intelligence, when the task team was sent to the Outer West areas there was a shift in crime to Westville. We then linked the operations to this area.”
He said a crime shift was then noticed in the Durban North areas.
“There was immediate intervention there and crime has since subsided,” Mdunge said.
“We have our ears to the ground and a plan will be put in place in the eManzimtoti area if the need arises.”
yogas.nair@inl.co.za
Daily News