POLOKWANE – Westenburg residents gathered in front of the Westenburg police station on Thursday and demanded an action plan from the Westenburg police on what they were going to do regarding recent burglaries in Westenburg.
The residents alleged that they were being terrorised by armed men, who broke into their homes. They said they lived in fear of these burglars.
According to the residents, these armed burglars were clearly not afraid of being identified, as they did not even cover their faces. They said the men were dressed in blue overalls with green and yellow stripes.
Review spoke to some of the victims.
“They broke into my house a while ago. They came to the house at about midnight. My children and I were watching movies. One of the windows was open, and, as I went to close it, I saw a man coming to the window. I started shouting and he went away.
“They came back at about 03:00 that morning. I heard a noise and went to investigate. A man forced the door open and came into the house. I shouted for my sons to wake up. Before I could run back into my bedroom, a man was standing next to me with a crowbar in his hand. He threatened to hurt me if I did anything
“There were four men and they held us hostage while they stole our stuff. They took our TV, cell phones and other valuable items. A few days later burglars also broke into my sister’s house,” the woman said.
The woman’s sister said they broke into her home last Monday morning.
“We were sound asleep when they came into our house. We did not hear anything. They took four TV’s and my son’s TV game console. I am upset that they broke in, but I thank the Lord they did not harm us,” the woman said.
Glenda Titus said early last week burglars broke into her neighbour’s house in Tomes Street.
“It was in the early morning hours when I heard my neighbour screaming. When I opened my door to go and ask if she was okay, she came running out of her house, straight into our house.
“We locked the door. When another neighbour opened his door to come and see if we were okay, the men were standing in front of his door with a firearm. One shot was fired, but no one was injured. The police came and the burglars ran away.”
Charleen van Schalkwyk said it seemed like the burglars always targeted houses in the early hours of the morning.
“They were at our home in Verveen Street last Wednesday morning. My husband came home at about 02:00 that morning and I think that he disturbed them. I think that is why they did not take anything. We found the back door and fridge open when we got up later that morning,” Van Schalkwyk said.
Residents met with the Westenburg police station commander, Col Lukas Tlhako on Friday.
“There will be a meeting with the community to discuss a way forward on how the police and community can work together to combat the problem. There were a few burglaries, but we plead with residents not to panic, because the police have the matter under control,” Tlhako said.
