Gunmen assault, rob resident collecting water at borehole
‘This could have been avoided if we had water in our taps’
WHEN Dilen Morgen arrived home from work on Monday night, the first thing he did was load his car with buckets, to fetch water from a nearby community borehole for bathing and cooking.
Little did he expect to be confronted by seven robbers – four of whom were armed.
Morgen said they assaulted him with the butt of a gun, demanding his cellphone and car keys. They then fired shots – shattering his car window.
The 24-year-old human resources assistant lives in Trenance Park, Verulam – a suburb that has been without water for more than seven months.
A still shaken Morgen said he lived with his mother and two relatives, and when he came home from work at 6.45pm, they had no water.
“The water tankers had not been out to the area during the day. All our stored water was finished. So, I loaded four, 20 litre buckets into my car and drove to a borehole just two roads away from my home in Madrona Drive. It is situated in front of the reservoir. I was alone and when I arrived at the borehole, there was no one in sight,” he said.
Morgen said he got out of the car and filled the first two buckets.
“While walking back to the car to leave the filled buckets, I saw seven men walking towards me. They were young and well-dressed. At first, I did not think anything of it. But, then I spotted one of them with what looked like a gun.”
Morgen said he panicked and his immediate reaction caused him to throw his car keys into the nearby bushes.
“Within seconds the men rushed towards me. Four of them had guns. They asked for the keys to my car. I told them the keys were not with me. One of the men then hit me on the left side of my face with the butt of his gun. I was then made to lay on the ground.”
He said the suspects then shot at his car window shattering the glass.
“My cellphone was inside the car and they took it. Before they fled, they fired several more shots in the air. I was scared and I kept my head down. Residents, including my brother-in-law who heard the gunshots, came to help me.
“We have been without water for seven months and as a community we are fed-up. We cannot do basic things like cooking and cleaning. If we had water this incident could have been avoided.”
Morgen said he was thankful that he was not seriously hurt. “I feel very lucky to be alive. I thought they were going to kill me. I am very traumatised.”
Rachel Wilkins, the chairman of the Verulam Community Policing Forum (CPF), said the borehole had been installed at a high risk spot.
“Before the borehole was installed we had a lot of robberies taking place at a nearby bus stop. Residents going to work were being robbed of their handbags and cellphones.
“In some cases, the robbers would try to also rob the bus drivers. At one point, police and private security had to tail these buses to ensure the passengers were safe.”
Wilkins said the borehole had been installed about four months ago.
“Residents living on Madrona Drive were the closest to the reservoir but they are the worst hit by the water problems. Many homes have not received a drop of water in seven months and because of this a decision was taken to install the borehole near the reservoir.”
Wilkins claimed that before the installation, the community had not been consulted and the crime in the area had not been taken into consideration.
“We don’t even have a guard posted at this water source. The borehole is used by many residents in the afternoon when they come home from work and now it is a threat to their safety.
“This area is dangerous and residents will be even more terrified to get water after this latest incident.
“We cannot ask police to patrol because they are also under-resourced. We are trying to get some of our community members to patrol the area.”
Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, a provincial police spokesperson, said police were investigating a case of attempted car hijacking.
“The suspects demanded the victim’s car keys and when they did not find the keys they assaulted him, broke into his vehicle and stole his cellphone before they fled the scene.”