Johannesburg - The family of the Akasia Hoërskool vice-principal who was shot nine times during a house robbery at his home in Nina Park north of Pretoria are in high spirits as his condition is improving.
While Johan du Toit, 58 is still in ICU his improved state has given his family hope that he will pull through his traumatic ordeal.
His wife Retha said her husband had managed to pull through surgery and they were told that his temperature had lowered which was a sign of good recovery.
“He’s not out of danger just yet, but the lowering of his temperature we’re told is a positive turn. We’ll be visiting him and hope that he will be able to make it through the night,” she said.
“All of us are still in shock about the whole incident but we are trying to stay as strong as we can for him. The change in his condition is what is giving us hope at the moment,” said Retha.
Koos Venter, principal of Akasia Hoërkool, said Du Toit had been at the school for 28 years and was someone pupils, teachers and the community loved.
Venter said he had been getting calls non-stop from people who had heard about the incident and wanted to find out how he was doing.
“Hearing what happened to someone that gentle and passionate about his community makes one furious. Even the learners that knew him well and heard about the news came to me to pass on their well-wishes to the family,” said Venter.
He said that while they could not gather the entire school for prayer, the staff held their own prayer session and would continue to do so until he was out of danger.
“He is more than a colleague to us, he is family and a dear friend. We organised for a psychologist to see the family and they have another session later,” said the principal.
Du Toit was shot when he went to investigate strange noises inside their Nina Park home at around 4am.
Retha said that when her husband got downstairs the robbers shot at him and she went out to the veranda to shout for help from their neighbours.
She said that despite her husband being shot at, his concern was about her safety and that of their 30-year-old son. “He was very worried about us and during the shooting he shouted for us to stay upstairs.”
A Pretoria North police spokeswoman said it appeared as though the three robbers had forced the door open with a crowbar. “They fired at him.” No one has been arrested.
Pretoria News