Elderly couple tied up, robbed at East retirement village
The pair were tied up and their retirement home ransacked.
An elderly couple was left traumatised after their retirement home in Equestria was broken into and some of their items stolen a week ago.
Two men entered the Equestria retirement village around 03:00, where they tied up the couple before ransacking their home.
“They took their cellphones, laptop, wedding ring, watches, clothing, a handbag as well cash amounting to R3 000,” said police spokesperson Warrant Officer Isaac Mculu.
“Police are searching for those responsible and a case of house robbery is being investigated.”
Mculu said no injuries were reported.
According to the retirement management, the intruders entered through an unlocked window.
The village’s manager Valerie Heenop said plans to upgrade its security measures were approved in February and would be implemented as of next month.
“From [the] date of the incident an extra security guard has been hired to patrol outside the perimeter,” she said.
“This is the second incident that has happened since lockdown where they broke into the retirement centre.”
In another incident, robbers broke into the retirement village’s community centre taking some equipment.
“This is the first incident where a resident’s unit was broken into. The other incident was only the community centre.”
Despite this being the second incident Heenop said they did not believe that the home was being targeted by criminals
A concerned daughter of one of the residents, who requested to remain anonymous, said the retirement village had become an easy target for criminals due to the uncut grass surrounding the premises.
The woman, whose 82-year-old mother is a resident at the village, said criminals found it easy to gain access to the retirement village’s premises by first hiding in the tall bushes and then cutting the electric fence.
“There was another incident where residents were robbed right at the gate while they were waiting to be screened,” she said.
“You have a group of very vulnerable people living there. They are very fragile, anything like what happened can easily affect them.
“Someone is going to get seriously injured.”
Ward councillor Jacqui Uys has previously contacted the Tshwane metro to address unkept spots in ward 85.
Uys said the area around the retirement home was one of the areas she had identified as a potential safety risk.
“There are a few other spots in the area which I reported to the city of Tshwane and those were addressed,” she said.
“I was really upset when I heard about the incident and this is how I also learned that the grass in that area was not cut unlike the others.
“I have contacted them once again and they have committed to cut the grass after the long weekend.”
Uys said crime in the area had been on the rise recently which has prompted her to initiate an oversight visit with a member of the Gauteng legislation which will include visiting the police station to get feedback on certain cases.
Do you have more information about the story?
Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites: Rekord East
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
