Take that, and that, and that!
● Tired of being easy prey for criminals, 71-year-old woman thrashes suspected thief with whip
Crime levels and the desperation of ordinary people have been exposed in a graphic video of an incident at a Kariega retirement village.
The video, which has gone viral on social media, shows an elderly woman thrashing a trussed alleged thief lying on the ground, using a rottang, or heavy rubber whip.
A security guard and other residents look on as the beating continues for about 45 seconds until someone steps in and puts a stop to it.
The woman can be heard shouting in Afrikaans, telling the youngster he is a thief.
There is laughing in the background as another bystander turns him around for everyone to see his face.
Anna Griffiths, 71, of the Nick Claassen municipal retirement cottages in Baird Street, said yesterday she had meted out the hiding because she and her fellow residents were besieged by criminals and they had nowhere to turn.
“We live in fear. We have a high fence and an electric gate but they get in.
“We cannot sleep properly at night because they are forever in here stealing, and they have knives.”
She said the incident occurred at about 7.30pm on Saturday after a resident had spotted a youngster walking stealthily into the complex.
“He could not see her because her stoep [porch] was dark, but she could see him.
“It looked like he was going for a bakkie that belongs to one of our neighbours.
“Then an alarm went off and this guy ran. By that time though the woman who had seen him had phoned security and they caught him and brought him back to make sure from her this was the guy she had seen.
“They put him on the ground over there and I got my rottang because we are sick of this stealing.
“They [allegedly] steal copper pipes and taps and each time one is ripped out or cut the water goes all over the place, wasting, and we have none the next day.
“They break into our Wendy houses and steal lawnmowers and weed trimmers, ladders and hosepipes and now they’re going for cars.”
She said she had not realised that another resident had videoed the beating and had posted it on social media.
The incident quickly went viral, drawing both sharp criticism and praise.
“I don’t know about social
media and I don’t like that she did that,” Griffiths said.
“Maybe I did wrong but we are desperate and we don’t know what else to do.
“The police take much too long to respond when they do come and though the security reacted fast this time these guys just keep on coming back.
“Everybody here has been hit.
“I was trying to teach that person a lesson to say ‘stop interfering with us’.
“In fact, a number of people have contacted me since and said it was a good thing I did.”
Another Nick Claassen resident, Mildred Meintjies, confirmed the fraught situation at the complex.
“They broke into our place and stole all our painting stuff and lampshades and a big bag of Tupperware.”
A reporter spent the afternoon driving around southcentral, Kariega, in the vicinity of John and Baird streets, and spoke to a number of residents.
Everywhere, the story was the same.
Thieves, many of them apparently high on tik, had stolen every available bit of copper piping, and were now starting to target other goods and valuables.
Asked about the incident and the thrashing meted out to the alleged thief, they all said they would have done the same.
Atlas Security marketing manager Ryan Morris confirmed that the company’s armed response officers had responded to the incident.
“We don’t condone the assault of the suspect and there is an internal investigation currently under way.”
Related to the incident, a voice note spread on social media, apparently from the alleged thief’s mother, condemning the beating of her son.
She said she knew her son, who she named, was “bad”, and she would approve if he was locked up for stealing copper, but no-one had the right to assault someone in this way.
It is understood that the alleged thief was released after the incident as there was no evidence that he had actually committed a crime, and the police were not called out.
Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the police had no knowledge of the incident.