A Merebank resident is lucky to be alive after a burglar shot at him on Himalayas Road, south of Durban, on Thursday.
According to the homeowner, who did not want to be named, just before 6 am, the Merebank Community WhatsApp groups put out an alert of suspicious men lurking in the area. The homeowner has already experienced three incidents of theft from her property in the past few months.
She said her daughter and son, who live in separate properties in the area, monitor her house’s outdoor cameras.
“My daughter called me and told me to be brave. She informed me that there were two men in the yard. I saw them on the camera too. I was monitoring their movements while waiting for help,” the woman said.
While monitoring the camera, she had seen her son arrive outside the neighbour’s premises and then shortly after at her front door.
“I opened the door and pointed to my son, indicating where the intruders were. Two of the culprits jumped over the fence. My son caught the first guy and there was a scuffle three doors away. I heard a loud bang. My son was screaming and I thought he was shot,” she said.
Her son had been bruised on his knees from the scuffle. She said the men fled over the M4 freeway into Jammu Road and through a sports field. The community had found a backpack with a car battery inside and an empty bullet casing.
“I am lucky my son is alive. Sadly, we feel like prisoners in our own home. In previous incidents, thieves took a grass cutter, two vehicle radiators, a car battery and a geyser from my yard,” she said.
The woman has now decided to install more cameras around her premises.
“I believe there is a syndicate working here in the area. There are also many vagrants wandering the area,” she said.
A case has been opened at the Wentworth SAPS.
