Johannesburg - Pimville, Soweto, residents are being terrorised by a man who prowls the streets, brazenly enters their homes and robs them of their belongings - without hiding his face.
Dubbed by residents as “One Man”, his modus operandi is so overt and consistent it has left residents fearing for their lives.
Mpho Mokoena, 38, of Pimville Zone 2 was one of the victims. “It was around 22.15pm last Tuesday and I had just come back home… I saw our gate had been opened… I walked in the yard, closed the gate and saw two figures,” she said on Monday.
“A man came out into the light and I saw he had a gun and was pointing it at my sister, then at me. He said he wanted money… He took my bag, emptied the contents and took my phone.”
He then pointed his gun at the sisters, ordering them to open the front door to the house. “When we knocked at the door, my 23-year-old brother opened. The man told him to lie down on the floor,” she said.
The man pushed Mokoena and her siblings back and locked them inside the house. She and her siblings are adamant they can identify him. According to Mokoena, “One Man” is dark in complexion, speaks “deep Zulu” and has linear traditional cuts.
“It’s not nice living in fear… Since 2010 we’ve heard of a man doing this around the area. Residents are angry because police haven’t got him,” she said.
Two weeks ago, a similar robbery happened three houses away from Mokoena’s home. Residents were out when The Star visited yesterday.
Last month, 68-year-old David Lekaba’s home and that of his neighbour in Pimville Zone 5 were also broken into. There was a similar modus operandi to the Zone 2 burglary. The burglar demanded money, and when Lekaba told him he had nothing, he snatched his daughter’s laptop and two cellphones.
In December last year, Pimville Zone 1 resident Kedibone* was attacked by a man who locked her in her daughter’s bedroom and made off with her cellphone and DVD player. Kedibone said she was called to an ID parade last week but was too scared to go.
Police said another one would be held soon.
*Not her real name. - The Star