Man defends wife with knife

PHOENIX resident saved his wife from possible harm by threatening to stab her attacker, who gained access to their property under the pretext of wanting to take the electricity meter reading.

The homeowner, who declined to be named, said the wellbuilt intruder arrived with other men in a white Toyota Tazz with a municipal NDM registration plate and markings on the door.

The homeowner said the intruder tried to push his wife into the house. When the intruder saw the homeowner, he left her and turned on him. The homeowner then lunged at the intruder with a kitchen knife. The intruder tried to flee, but the driveway gate was closed and he was trapped inside. In an apparent adrenaline rush, the stocky intruder physically lifted and derailed the gate and escaped into the awaiting vehicle.

“I watched him physically derail the gate, which was quite heavy,” said the homeowner in an interview this week.

Recounting the events, he said: “At around 7.55am last Wednesday, a white Toyota Tazz arrived at our front gate. My wife spoke to the man and he said he was there to do a reading. We live below road level, so all she could see was the vehicle registration number and blue markings on the car door. He also wore a blue overall and had a book and pen, so she let him on to the property.”

He said his wife had watched the robber, while he checked the reading.

“He then told her he wanted to check the other reading indoors. She told him there was no other meter. That is when he began to push her inside. I was in the bathroom and by the time I got to the dining room, I heard her scream that he could not come in. He was pushing her, while she was trying to shove him out.”

When the robber saw the husband, he ignored the wife and lunged at him. “Fortunately, the kitchen is close to the dining room, so I grabbed a kitchen knife and threatened to stab him. He got scared and ran out. But the driveway gate, which is controlled by remote, was closed.

“This meant he was trapped inside. It would have been difficult for him to climb over the gate because of the steep incline.

“The robber began to panic. During this time, we closed the front gate and pressed the panic button. We hid in a room and could hear him rattling the gate. He was screaming that he wanted to get out.”

The husband said he and his wife then watched as the man physically derailed the driveway gate and got into the Tazz.

Glen Naidoo of VIP Protection Services, who responded to the call-out, said: “Don’t trust anyone and everyone. If someone comes to your house in this manner, it is safer to read out the municipal readings than allow the person onto your property.”

Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane confirmed that a case of attempted house robbery had been opened at Phoenix SAPS.

The municipality was given the vehicle’s registration number to determine if it was theirs.

There had been no response by the time of publication.