Winter has provided the ideal opportunity for robbers, who are targeting homes earlier in the evening as darkness sets in.
SAPS spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, said that since the start of winter, police had noticed a “slight increase” in house robberies.
He has appealed to residents to be extra vigilant.
“Your doors must be properly locked and your windows must be closed. It is also important that neighbours look out for others,” he said.
One of the latest victims was Asherville resident Donald Shadrach, whose Father’s Day was marred when five armed men scaled his boundary wall and threatened to shoot his youngest son during a dinner party on Sunday at about 7pm.
Shadrach, 62, who has spinal cancer, said his family had ignored the fact that crime was a problem until they became victims.
“We hear people talk about crime all the time, but we never knew it would happen to us.”
He was at home with his wife Sandra, sons Llewellyn and Stanton, and three friends when they saw the gunmen scale the boundary wall and storm into their house through the open front door.
“We were sitting in the lounge and before we could react, they were inside. One of them saw my younger son, who is well built, and instantly said, “kill that lightie”.
“My instincts kicked in and I put my arm over Stanton to protect him.”
The robbers shouted at the family and instructed them not to look at their faces.
They forced them to lie face down on the floor in the dining room.
“One of them said they would f****** kill us, but another responded, telling him to leave us alone as we were co-operating.”
Shadrach said his wife was taken to their bedroom and told to point out the safe.
“She told them we did not have a safe but they then saw her jewellery, which she had not put away after returning home from church earlier in the day, and took it.
“They also stole three laptops, six cellular phones, R3 500 in cash and a 42-inch plasma television, which they placed in one of the visitor’s cars, an Audi A4, parked outside.”
Before fleeing they shoved the family and their guests into the bathroom.
“Fortunately for us, the key was on the inside, so we were able to free ourselves when they left.”
But the robbers also drove off with about R280 000 worth of gynaecological equipment that was in the Audi.
“My guest, a technician, was going to sell the equipment,” explained Shadrach.
The car was found an hour later in KwaMashu.
Some of the medical equipment was recovered.
Shadrach said he had learnt a lesson from the incident.
“From now on I will remember to keep my gate and door locked.”
Zwane said a case of house robbery was being investigated.
He encouraged residents to become actively involved in community policing forums (CPFs) and volunteer their services by becoming part of neighbourhood watch patrols.
The deputy chairman of the Asherville CPF, Dean Joseph, said it was vital for homeowners to be alert.
“Many people don’t take care of their homes and are lax with security.
“Remember, if someone wants to break into your home they will do it, but you need to make it as difficult as possible for them.”
Joseph said residents must stop being complacent and he encouraged them to attend the forum’s next meeting on July 8 at the David Landau Community Centre at 6pm.
CPF member Kresen Moodley, who is part of the neighbourhood watch, has been patrolling areas in Asherville intermittently for the past 15 years.
He said a large group of volunteers, like himself, head out every night, sometimes from 9pm to the next morning.
Asked why he did this, Moodley said: “Because the neighbourhood belongs to us and we are taking responsibility for our security.”
Imran Vorajee, who heads the neighbourhood watch, said they had 20 volunteers and wanted others to join.
The spokesman for the Sydenham CPF, Satish Dhupelia, said crime was a serious problem in Asherville, Reservoir Hills and Clare Estate.
“Asherville, for instance, used to be a quiet suburb but crime in terms of hijackings, carjackings and house robberies has picked up over the past two years,” he said.
Dhupelia described crime as an epidemic, “because it is happening everywhere”.
He said he believed it was vital for the government to bring in the army to deal with the issue.