Brazen robbers ‘tied us up and ate our meat’

Brazen robbers, wearing police uniforms, not only robbed a Mason’s Mill family of cellphones and a car, but raided their fridge, fried and ate their meat while the victims were locked in a room for about six hours.

The traumatising incident started late last Friday night when the family heard a knock on the door from people who presented themselves as police officers.

The family and their visitor, who was staying over, were asleep when the five suspects arrived at their door at around 11.30 pm.

The four men and a woman, two of them dressed in full police uniform, were armed with pistols and one wore a bulletproof vest with the word “police” emblazoned on it. They were also carrying handheld portable radio devices similar to the walkie-talkies police officers use to communicate with.

The 29-year-old son said as soon as he opened the door, the “police officers” pointed firearms at them and took them to the room where his one-year-old child was sleeping.

“There were three adults [including a visitor] in the house and a child, who is just over one year old.

“One of the robbers took my mother to all the rooms looking for money and firearms, while the others guarded us in the room. They only got R7 500. There was no firearm in the house,” he said.

The man, who asked not to be named, told The Witness that the robbers only left their home at around 4.30 am on Saturday morning after they cooked and ate the meat.

“They got so comfortable, to a point that they even ate,” he said. “We just thank God that no one was injured, but the incident has left us so traumatised. We are even scared to sleep now, because we do not know what is going to happen. If these people come back, there are no guarantees that they will spare our lives.”

The brazen robbers did not leave empty-handed. According to the victim, they also stole uncooked boerewors and braai packs from the family’s fridge before leaving. The man said apart from the meat, the suspects made off with money, cosmetics, alcohol and their visitor’s Toyota Corolla, which was parked outside the home.

“We are so stressed because the meat that they took is [the stock] that we are selling. They have set us back now, because no one is working. This was our income. We were so lucky that there was a small amount of money in our cards that they failed to withdraw,” he said.

KwaZulu-Natal researcher and violence monitor, Mary de Haas said it is concerning that criminals are now wearing full police uniform while committing crimes.

De Haas warned residents to be careful before opening their homes to strangers knocking on the door, even if they are dressed in police uniforms. “They need to provide you with some form of identification and tell you which police station they are coming from. You need to call that station and confirm if they are indeed supposed to be in your house,” she said.

She added that it was not difficult to get a police uniform due to high levels of corruption in the country.

“With all the corrupt police that we have it will be easy to get a uniform. If police guns can go missing, uniform is nothing,” De Haas said.

uMgungundlovu acting police spokesperson, Warrant Officer Panchael Singh confirmed the incident saying that about five men and one woman had been involved in the robbery.

Singh said a case of house robbery has been opened at Alexandra Police Station and assured that a tracking team has been enlisted for the case.

Singh added that no arrests have been made as yet.