Durban – While his accomplices held a Cowies Hill family at gunpoint and ransacked their home, an armed man repeatedly apologised to his victims, assuring them that the robbery “will be over soon”.
In Thursday's morning's incident, the family of eight was told to sit still and be quiet while the armed and balaclava-clad men looted their house in search of flat-screen television sets, money, clothing and jewellery. The ordeal lasted an hour.
At about the same time, a couple in Reservoir Hills was held up. The 57-year-old woman was repeatedly raped by the robbers, while her 54-year-old husband was tied up, blindfolded and struck with a bush knife.
Speaking to the Daily News, the Cowies Hill homeowners, who declined to be named, said they were asleep when the gang entered their house through a back door.
“It was about 3:15am and I saw the door open, and someone walked in. I thought it was my son who leaves home early, and wondered why he was not speaking. When a second man walked into the room, this is when I realised what was going on,” the grandmother said.
The men told her to be quiet and not to move. They then walked around the room she shared with her husband, looking for items to steal.
“We do not have much. We are old people and we have old televisions. They asked my husband where he kept his money and he told them it was in his trousers. The men saw his cellphone and took it."
"Another man asked how much money was in the wallet and their accomplice told them. They continued searching through the drawers and kept asking where the ‘stuff’ is,” she said.
While the men were going through their things, the woman’s son entered the room and one of them pointed a gun at his head.
He was told to sit while they brought his sister, wife, two children, aged 10 and 17, and the children’s friend into the room.
All had guns pointed at their heads, the woman said.
Her son was pistol-whipped when he tried to verbally challenge the gang.
While two of the men ransacked the house, two stood guard over the family.
A bloodstained broken door in the house. Picture: Motshwari Mofokeng
“One kept apologising to us during the robbery. He told us it would be over soon and they would leave us. A few minutes later, my son, daughter-in-law, daughter and the children were taken to another room and left there while my husband and I stayed in our bedroom,” the woman said.
The family was locked in bedrooms and the gang loaded their loot into a getaway car and another stolen from the house.
The family’s car was found at 5am in Hammarsdale, a few kilometres away.
The woman said her family had lived in the house for 19 years and this was the first time they had been robbed.
“My granddaughter was screaming after the robbery. It was bad. I never thought this would happen. I don’t even have jewellery,” she said.
Brian Jackson, of Blue Security, who responded to the incident, said the family was lucky to escape unharmed.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said Pinetown police were investigating a case of house robbery. The gang are still at large.
Meanwhile, in the Reservoir Hills incident, the woman – who cannot be named – is undergoing medical tests and receiving trauma counselling.
The woman and her husband were asleep when three men broke down their front door and began searching for items of value.
The couple were struck with the blunt side of a bush knife.
The men demanded the PIN for a bank card they had found and were given the wrong number, the woman's sister said.
The men tied the husband’s hands with rope and one kept watch over the couple while the others went to a nearby ATM.
When the men realised the PIN was not working, they returned and assaulted the couple again.
They then took turns raping the woman before leaving without taking anything. Sydenham police are investigating.
Anyone with information can contact Detective Warrant Officer Brett Cotton at 0637390616.