Durban - A Chinese businessman, 46, who lived in Durban, jumped from the third floor of a housing complex and died while attempting to evade robbers.
Police are still searching for two men involved in the robbery on Wednesday night at the Edgecombe Park complex on at Siphosethu Road in Mount Edgecombe. The complex has fencing topped with electrical wires, access control gates manned by guards and visitors have to sign in when entering.
The incident occurred at the first block in the complex, near the guardhouse, overlooking a busy petrol station.
Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane said police had responded to a call of a robbery in progress. When they arrived, a man was lying on the ground while paramedics were attending to him.
“Upon proceeding into the house, police discovered that the occupants of the house were held up and robbed. It is alleged that the victim and his wife had just arrived home from work and were walking up the stairway to their flat on the third floor,” he said.
“As they walked past the second floor, they were accosted by two men who pointed firearms at them and forced them into the house. The victim and his wife were threatened, and the suspects demanded money. They took the victim’s wife’s handbag which contained money as well as four cellphones,” Zwane said.
“The suspects then tied them with plastic ties while they ransacked the house. The victim, a 46-year-old, managed to break the plastic ties and untied his wife. They both ran on to the balcony and shut the glass patio door,” Zwane explained.
“One of the suspects came to the door and pointed a firearm at them. The victim got scared and jumped over the balcony. He fell three levels to the ground,” Zwane stated.
The men fled with a Samsung television and the victim’s Honda Ballade.
Zwane said the victim’s wife was traumatised and was taken to Mount Edgecombe Hospital for treatment.
Glen Naidoo, director of private security company KZN VIP unit, said they were called out to offer medical assistance, but the man was dead when they arrived.
Yesterday, a resident said the wife had been discharged from hospital. The resident had seen her come home and take a bag before leaving in a rush. Some residents suspect the robbery could have been an inside job.
Police could not provide a name for the deceased.
Naidoo said guards and police combed the area for the vehicle but could not find it.
Charges of house robbery and murder are being investigated.
MP Dianne Kohler Barnard, the DA’s spokesperson of police, said the uMhlanga/Mount Edgecombe area, for all its exclusivity and massive development, has no police station.
“There is a tiny satellite station, but it is so under-resourced it is a mere token.
“It is terrible when a South African is attacked on a farm or in a city street, but an attack on a foreigner has far-reaching diplomatic implications,” she said.