By Louis Oelofse
Crime does not spare anyone, even if you are a member of parliament's portfolio committee on safety and security.
ANC MP Paul Zondo learnt this lesson the hard way at the weekend when a thief stole his television set.
Zondo, who lives in Soshanguve, near Pretoria, woke up on Sunday when he heard someone in his house. At first he thought it might have been his daughter, who was staying next door while his house was being renovated.
"My wife called out to find out if it was my daughter, and then we heard someone running," Zondo said.
He jumped up and tried to follow the thief. When he ran out of his house, he found that the thief had dropped his microwave oven next to the garage and was already gone.
On closer inspection he found that his television set was missing. Zondo also found an open can of cider in his house. "I don't drink that, so I think the thieves took their time."
Zondo believes there was more than one intruder in his house and they might have thought that no one was home due to the renovation work being done.
"This (incident) upset me a lot and it is disturbing. But we are also aware that crime is one of the major problems this country is facing," Zondo said.
Police said no one had been arrested.