‘Huge’ intruder terrorises elderly
Residents live in fear after two home invasions at facility
Elderly residents of a large Port Elizabeth retirement home are living in fear after three of them were assaulted in their units by a tall, burly intruder in the space of one week.
The man is suspected of being responsible for two violent home invasions at the Buffelsfontein Village old age home in Charlo – with the most recent incident happening at the weekend and involving a second suspect.
The victims have all described the one intruder as a “very big bastard”.
His first victims were attacked the weekend before.
Maureen Andreka, CEO of the Algoa Bay Council for the Aged, which manages the property, said it had now been forced to consider recalling and reissuing all 900 access tags in the interest of the residents’ safety.
Social worker Lisa Diesel said: “All the victims gave very similar descriptions.
“They say he [attacker] is a very big man, tall enough that he needed to bend his neck to get through the doorway.”
While it is unknown how the intruder gained access to the general property, which is surrounded by an electric fence, Diesel said they believed he had got into the flats by breaking off a 50cm pole and bashing open the security doors to the units. The broken doors have now been barricaded.
A nervous resident in a unit next to the doors has put up a sign in his window: “Beware of traps. Sorry. No mali.”
The second incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday, when a couple in their 70s were attacked in their cottage despite the husband trying to defend himself with a machete.
The couple were too traumatised to speak to the media on Monday.
The large intruder’s first victim, a diminutive 76-year-old long-term resident of the home who asked not to be named, was attacked on the night of November 17.
“I got up that night to go to the toilet. I only had the chain on my door,” she said.
“Suddenly, I heard a loud ‘bang, bang, bang’. The next thing I know this tall guy kicked open my door.
“He slapped me bloody hard. I fell in the kitchen but got up again and ran to the flat of my friend next door.
“He came after me and slapped me again. He slapped her too.
“He took my television. I had a nice flat-screen television the children gave me.
“My friend was shouting and crying. I think she chased him off.
“I ran to call the caretaker, then I called my son.
“When I got back into my
‘He slapped me bloody hard. I fell in the kitchen but got up again and ran to the flat of my friend next door. He came after me and slapped me again. He slapped her too. He took my television. I had a nice flat-screen television the children gave me’
flat I was so upset – he had moved my wardrobe.
“He also scratched around in my bed and opened the refrigerator and just left it open. “I am very scared now. “At 2am or so every night I have to go to the toilet and then I can’t go back to sleep.
“I sit and listen to all the noises. I suppose I will get over it. I just thank God that I am alive.”
Despite her ordeal, the elderly woman was at ease enough to talk about her interest in the subject of crime.
“You see, I like watching the crime channel [on TV]. Also I read detective novels.
“When the police got here I asked the detective about all those things they use to track people in the television programmes. He just laughed.”
Extra security has been deployed around the complex, including cameras, and while there is a general sense of anxiety, some residents say they refuse to live in fear.
“Our children are finding out about the crime around here,” Cecilia Manser, 75, said.
“I had my son on the phone first thing this morning.
“I am not scared but I feel bad for all of us.
“Why would you attack people who can’t defend themselves?” she said.
Manser said she had heard the commotion the previous weekend but did not pay much attention. “To be honest with you, some of the ladies are a bit hard of hearing so they speak quite loudly to one another all the time.”
Basil Allschwang, 70, said he had never felt unsafe in the seven or eight years that he had been living at the home.
“I was on the street after my business folded.
“This is an amazing place. It is my salvation,” he said.
“After the break-ins, people are worried.
“We all just need to be more careful. The sad part is that we are easy targets.”
In the most recent incident, at 2am on Sunday, two intruders broke open the security gate and front door of a cottage and threatened the couple inside.
Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said: “The elderly man pulled out a machete – however, one of the suspects hit him in the face and disarmed him.
“The couple were then forced to sit down while the men stole cellphones, a television and money.”
Janse van Rensburg said the property’s electric fence was intact and they were trying to ascertain how the intruders gained entry to the complex.
Andreka said the electric fence was working and they were now revising their access control systems. “We may have
to recall all access tags and either reprogramme them – an immense task as there are over 900 on issue – or revise our access system,” she said.
“This will take some time to consult with the security industry and obtain quotes.
“We are deeply distressed that our older people have been attacked in their homes.
“We currently have the electrified fence that was erected with donor funding when we took over the complex.
“We are also contracted to Atlas [Security] for armed response should the communal areas and fence be activated.
“The night manager has a remote alarm.
“Atlas can confirm that the fence is active and working and that we held a meeting with them after the first incident.
“We currently use a system of access tags to the main gate and pedestrian gate.
“The pedestrian gate is intended to be locked at all times yet it is often reported to us that residents bar the gate from locking,” Andreka said.
“We might have to consider permanently closing this gate as it is in the area where the break-ins have occurred.
“The village is home to about 405 older people, of whom around 200 only receive a Sassa pension of R1,700 a month.
“The portion of rental paid by the Sassa pensioner barely covers our bill for municipal services of water, sewerage and electricity, with little over to cover actual running costs.
“We understand the outcry [over the attacks] but please let us focus on treating the problem. It is not an easy fix.
“The Algoa Bay Council for the Aged is not the problem here, the crime rate and the criminals are.
“We need funds and time to properly address all of our problems,” she said.