East woman (82) shares her ordeal of being robbed at gunpoint
Gerda Human and a friend waiting for their hands to be sanitized at the gate of their estate when they were attacked by two armed men.
A Garsfontein woman has shared her ordeal of being robbed and assaulted while she and a friend were entering their estate just a few metres away from the Garsfontein police station on Monday morning.
Gerda Human (82) and a friend had just arrived at the gate of the Saint Peter’s Garden estate on the corner of Winifred Yell Street and Jacqueline Drive, when two armed men ambushed them.
“We were in the car and had stopped to sanitise our hands at the gate. In just a matter of seconds, there was a guy at my window who had a gun pointed at me asking for my jewellery. And as I looked at my friend, I notice another man with a gun was on her side too.”
Human said she did not co-operate when the man stuck his hand in her car through the open window, switching off the ignition and taking the car keys.
“He had the gun in one hand and was trying to pull of my ring with the other. I made a fist with my hand so he could not get the ring off my finger,” she said.
The 82-year-old then saw the man who had removed the ring from her friend’s finger coming around the car to help his friend who was struggling with Human.
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She said the accomplice hit her with the gun on her head and her eye forcing her to unclasp her fist.
“They took my ring and wristwatch,” she said.
“They went on to ask for money. I told them I didn’t have any. My friend opened her bag and gave them the R500 she had so they could go away.
“During the ordeal, the security guard was ordered to get away.”
She said the men took off in a white VW Polo that was waiting and shortly after that security response officers arrived.
“I never wear jewellery in public, but on this day, I just didn’t think about it,” said Human.
Human told Rekord she suspected this was the same group that was involved in the shooting of a hardware store owner last week.
The owner was shot by three men when he tried to help a woman who was being robbed of her jewellery at the Olivewood shopping centre.
Those men also took off in a white VW Polo.
“It was the same car, the same number of people and they all wanted jewellery. I think they operate around there, targeting women.
“I hope police can link the two incidents and find them.”
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Human was left with bruises on her forehead from the assault.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Duane Lightfoot said it was not clear whether the group were part of a syndicate.
“It is also not clear if the suspects are from the same group as those who shot a man in the chest earlier, but the possibility will surely be investigated by Garsfontein detectives,” Lightfoot said.
“Any help in the form of information from the public would be welcomed by the Garsfontein police.
“The perpetrators are still at large and a case of armed robbery will be investigated.”
He urged members of the community not to visibly wear expensive jewellery in public as this could attract criminals.
“A person’s life is worth way more than any possession.”
Information to the police can be phoned through on 012-472-0144.
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