Burglaries upset Joburg residents

Mother of two hit twice in Protea area

When Mandisa Manzini bought a house in Protea, she was relieved she would have a safe place to call home.

Little did she know of the headache that comes with owning property in Joburg. The mother of two has been a victim of two house robberies.

In one incident last April, thieves took electronic appliances worth more than R24 000 while Manzini was locked in her bedroom with her children‚ aged two and five years.

Whilethe intruders cleared out her house‚ Manzini screamed and phoned the police, who came hours after the criminals had left the area.

Nobody was harmed during the incident but Manzini said she was traumatised.

“I struggle to sleep at night since the incident. We live in fear because we don’t know when we might be robbed again. I have even considered moving out of this area because of the bad experience we have had‚” said Manzini.

Two other houses located along Manzini’s street suffered the same fate this June. Thembinkosi Mkhize‚ who lives next to Manzini‚ lost goods worth R30 000. The experience has forced him to install an alarm system‚ build a boundary wall and beef-up security features in his house.

Based on the 2017 State of Urban Safety Report‚ Manzini and Mkhize’s frustration is shared by many in Joburg.

Joburg has the highest number of residential robberies, which forces many to spend more on security. - TimesLIVE