An elderly Steiltes woman (73), her son (19) and his friend were robbed earlier this morning, March 14, by five men allegedly posing as municipal workers.

Quick reactions and collaboration from local security companies and the police have already led to the arrest of three of these men at the time of publishing.

The woman’s husband (75), who was not at the house in Von Braun Street during the incident, spoke to Lowvelder and asked that none of them be named.

He said the five men had been dressed in overalls and came to the gate and spoke to the gardener, claiming they were from the municipality and that they needed to check the meters at the house.

The gardener passed this message on the wife, who opened the gate with a remote.

ALSO READ: Two Mozambican women come under fire in robbery outside Mbombela

The domestic worker was cleaning the veranda. She had left the security gate to the home open when the men entered. After entering, they forced the gardener and the domestic worker inside the house through the open security gate. Once inside, they assaulted the garden worker and tied up his hands. The husband said the gardener had pleaded with the five suspects to not hurt the wife.

The robbers tied up the wife, her son and his friend’s hands, as well as the domestic worker’s. The wife was threatened with a knife to give them the safe key. She did so. They took a .303 rifle, a .22 pistol and a hunting knife from the safe. All the cellphones on the premises were stolen, as well as R600 belonging to the son’s friend.

A contract worker in the Steiltes area reportedly saw the men as they were leaving the house and allegedly started firing shots at them. The suspects fled the scene in all directions.

ALSO READ: Armed robbery at White River Rugby Club

The husband added that one of the suspects had jumped over the wall and broke his leg as he was trying to flee.

The husband said their son’s friend had managed to break free, jump over the wall into a neighbour’s garden and asked them to call his family who live nearby. The husband said they are truly thankful for the professional and speedy assistance from the police and the security companies, and wanted to compliment them on how they had handled the situation and treated his wife.

Divergent Ops operations manager Juandré Rautenbach said they were first on the scene, followed by the couple’s daughter.

The first suspect, the one who had broken his leg, was arrested by Divergent Ops with the assistance of a member of Hi-Tech Security.

Securicon Lowveld’s Callum mac Pherson said Securicon then apprehended two of the other suspects near the Steiltes circle. One of them was in a white Toyota Hilux bakkie, while the second was hiding in a nearby bush.

The remaining two suspects are still at large.

The husband said ER24 was at the scene, but said that no one was seriously injured, and that they were just in shock.

Meanwhile, the spokesperson for the Nelspruit Police Station, Captain Zandile Gqawa, said SAPS is aware of the incident, however, they will only comment as soon as they have all the information regarding the arrests.

The City of Mbombela’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said all contractors and people claiming to work for the municipality must produce identification cards.

He said their cars are marked with CoM vehicle stickers, and if they do not have ID, no one should allow them in. He added that people claiming to be checking water meters will be in marked Silulumanzi vehicles.

“We strongly condemn this incident and urge people to be vigilant,” he said.