Suspicious break-in at Dangor home

FORMER Department of Social Development director-general Zane Dangor’s family has been traumatised by a suspicious burglary at his home.

It has also emerged that one of the vehicles involved in the break-in may have been used to try to gain access to the home of South African Social Security Agency (Sassa) chief executive Thokozani Magwaza on Monday.

The break-in at Dangor’s home comes just days after the Constitutional Court ruled on a case involving the process for the payment of social grants beyond the end of this month.

On Friday, the court ruled that grant administration company Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) could continue paying grants for another year.

This, after Sassa failed to set up an in-house grants payment system as required by an earlier judgment in the matter.

Dangor resigned over the grants crisis earlier this month as tensions flared within the department.

He said yesterday he viewed the burglary at his home as an act of intimidation as no valuables had been taken.

“Two cars had pulled up. The guys in the car got out and told my helper that I had sent them to fix something,” Dangor said.

“Before she could do anything, they overpowered her and broke the security gate in the front of the house.”

She screamed and his son confronted one of the attackers who tried to put a cloth over his mouth. His son fled and barricaded himself in a bedroom.

“And then the guys went through the house‚ looking in the cupboards,” Dangor said.

“But they took nothing‚ nothing was stolen. They left before the police arrived.”

Dangor said there were valuables lying around that were left untouched.

Later‚ while he was at the hospital where his son‚ who had hurt his hand, was having X-rays‚ he phoned Magwaza to tell him about the incident.

Magwaza told him that he had just briefed security officials at Sassa about a car that had approached his wife in exactly the same way on Monday.

The vehicle’s description was similar to one of the cars that had been at Dangor’s home.

“They pulled up in front of his [Magwaza’s] house and said they wanted to sell something. But luckily she [Magwaza’s wife] did not open up,” Dangor said.

“I see it as an act of intimidation – the fact that they came and took nothing from me‚ that’s intimidation.”