Man, 84, dies after home invasion

AN 84-YEAR-old man died of a heart attack on Friday, minutes after he was pinned to the ground by robbers on the verandah of his Mpumalanga home.

Cassim Pochee’s daughter, who declined to be named, said the heart attack was brought on by shock.

Pochee lived in Standerton, a large commercial and agricultural town, with his daughter and her son.

While sitting on the railing, two men approached and began throttling him.

“I heard a scary sound and rushed out to see what was happening,” said the daughter, who was attending to her son.

“My dad was on his back on the floor. One man was sitting near his head and was choking him, while the second had his knees on my father’s chest,” she said.

She screamed and swore at them to leave her dad alone but they ignored her pleas.

“I asked if they were not ashamed of themselves for hurting an old man but this did not seem to deter them.

“I tried to pull the one, who had his knees on my dad, away but the other one (accomplice) moved forward as if he was going to attack me.”

She said her instincts kicked in and she somehow managed to muster up her strength and bashed both men’s heads together.

Surprised by her tenacity, they withdrew and fled on foot.

Her sister, Raziya Saley, took up the story.

“My sister asked our dad if he was okay and if they had taken anything. He said yes. But we don’t know how much money was stolen,” said Saley.

She said her father, whose motto was ‘hard work did not kill anyone’, then got up, got into his bakkie and drove off in the direction the robbers fled.

“Members from the private security company, who were alerted, met him along the route but they were unable to locate the men.”

She said when her dad returned home, he looked pale and slumped off at the steering wheel.

Pochee was taken to a private doctor and stabilised.

“His condition seemed to have improved and we thought, let’s put him into an ambulance and take him to the hospital for observation. But he breathed his last breath.”

Saley said crime in Standerton was a growing concern.

“The unemployment rate is so high that the area is riddled with crime. Something must be done.”

She said despite his age, her father ran a small business.

“He had scaled down his business but he remained a workaholic. We told him to enjoy his twilight years but his motto was ‘had work did not kill anyone’.”

Saley said that from home, Pochee was supposed to pick up wholesale goods from town and drop it off at private businesses.

She said she did not know if the robbers knew her dad was a businessman or struck because they thought he was elderly and easy prey.

Saley described her father as a well respected and well known community member.

“My father passed away during an auspicious time, the fasting month of Ramadaan, and on Friday. He has entered into paradise without reckoning.”

No arrests have been made.