An elderly resident at the Paintball Warriors’ grounds on the P91 near Esselen Park was seriously injured when a young employee of the business allegedly attacked him with a garden pick handle on April 9.
According to employer Michelle Bolton, Deon Visagie (65) had returned home from a gardening job, when the suspect attacked him and demanded his bank cards.
Capt Lesibana Molokomme, spokesperson for Norkem Park SAPS, confirmed that the handle of the pick was used to strike Visagie.
“He put his arms up to cover his face,” Bolton recalled the incident. “Both his arms were broken and he was badly bruised, but he managed to get to the main road for help.”
Kind-hearted driver Mapula Malatji spotted Visagie, stopped and called Bolton, whose number is on a sign outside the premises. An ambulance transported him to Tembisa Hospital, where he remained until Saturday, four days short of a month following the incident. Both his forearms were operated on.
Molokomme told Express that the suspect remained at large and police urged the community to come forward with any information.
“We believe he may be living in Winnie Mandela informal settlement in Tembisa.”
According to Bolton, the suspect started as a temporary employee at Paintball Warriors in February, where he did maintenance work. “He never showed any signs of aggression, so this came as a shock. You don’t do something like that to an old person.”
Bolton added that Visagie was so distraught on his first night home from hospital that he didn’t want to spend it alone. “Due to the incident, he can’t do his gardening work, which has set him back quite a bit.”
Anyone with information about the suspect’s whereabouts can contact D/Const Dories Mkhatshwa on 082 370 0295, 011 391 1814/5 or 08600 10111.
