A man from Mbombela has shared his account of his abduction by an armed man on Monday evening, following a robbery at his home that he shares with his elderly mother.

Rodney Haywood (51) says he was extremely thankful that both he and his mother were safe after the traumatic incident, which saw the suspect allegedly threaten to kill Haywood multiple times throughout the ordeal.

Haywood says he arrived home from work at about 18:20. He had parked his car on his property and was just about to open the door after unlocking the security gate when he heard a noise behind him.

“I turned and saw a man holding a gun. He hit me over the head with it. I shouted for my mum not to open the door, but the suspect told her she must, and she did. He pushed me inside and told me to lie on the floor,” says Haywood.

He says the robber started asking the two for money and their bank cards, but they both told him they had no cash and that Haywood had left his bank cards at work.

“He [the robber] told my mum to lie on the floor as well, but I said she wouldn’t be able to get back up again. She has kidney failure and needs to go for dialysis three times a week. So he told her to sit on the couch. He told us he would not hurt my mother, but that he would kill me.”

Haywood says they pleaded with the suspect to take whatever he wanted but not hurt them. The man told Haywood to open his banking app and transfer money to his mum’s account. He instructed him to get up and load their TVs, laptops, and other valuables into his car. The suspect tied the mother up and ordered Haywood into the driver’s seat, getting into the passenger seat himself.

“I could not see the gun anymore, but he got out a knife and held it right against my ribs the whole time I was driving. He told me that shooting me would be too loud, so he would stab me to death if I did not co-operate.”

He says the suspect instructed him to drive toward Karino, just outside the city.

Eventually, the suspect ordered Haywood to stop on a dirt path about 200m from a filling station in Karino and told him to unload all the stolen valuables into some nearby bushes. Haywood says he saw a white bakkie arrive, which turned out to be the suspect’s accomplices, and he was told to get in his car’s boot so he could not see any of them.

He heard the other suspects drive away again, presumably with the stolen goods, and then he was let out of the boot so he could help the suspect start his car. The suspect told him he was going to draw money and put Haywood back in the boot.

Haywood was then able to escape and ran onto the main road, where he says members of AfriForum found him. Shortly after, security companies Hi-Tech Security, Securicon Lowveld, and Divergent Ops also arrived on the scene. He was taken to hospital, where the wound on his head was stitched up.

He says he later learned that his mother had managed to get loose and ran out onto the street to call for help, and people had started searching for him. Haywood says he was grateful to AfriForum and the security companies for all the assistance and their fast reaction to the situation.

Both Hi-Tech’s Lappies Labuschagne and Securicon Lowveld’s Callum MacPherson confirm the incident and say the police were also at the scene.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Colonel Donald Mdhluli says he is still gathering information about the incident and will comment at a later stage.