“I feel I let my family down,” said Thys Fourie (65) after three armed men robbed his Van Riebeek Park home and tied him up in front of his wife, Nellie (63) and five-month-old granddaughter a few weeks ago.
The elderly couple, who have been living in their home since 1978, believe the suspects thought they were an easy target and had been monitoring their movements for some time.
On the day, the Fouries were in the house while their gardener was in the back yard.
“I was met at the door by three armed men. The one put a gun in my face and asked where my wife was. I told him she was in the bedroom and he said I should take him to her,” explained Thys.
“I was trying to put the baby to sleep. They said I must put her down and I said no, I was holding her the whole time. They kept on saying we shouldn’t look at their faces,” Nellie further explained.
The suspects asked the couple to take them to the safe, asked for the key and took Thys’ firearm from it, along with jewellery from the cupboard. They then told him to lie flat before tying him up.
“They only took the expensive jewellery with sapphires and diamonds worth R85 000. They even took my earrings off my ears. On their way out they also saw my cellphone on the table and took it,” Nellie added.
The suspects allegedly came on foot and wore socks on their hands.
The Fouries thanked their community for assistance through the ordeal and applauded the good work by Norkem Park SAPS, thanking them for their quick response and professionalism.
The station’s spokesman, Capt Lesibana Molokomme, confirmed the incident and said a case of armed robbery had been opened.
The elderly couple have had to change their locks and alarm system as the robbers took the entire bunch of house keys as well as the remote to the alarm.
They have four children and six grandchildren and say all but one of their children have had first-hand encounters with crime, including armed robbery and attempted hijacking.
“We just want to send this out as a warning that armed robbery does not only take place at night but also during the day and residents should be alert while doing their gardening during the day.”
