04/10/2024
https://www.facebook.com/100064542800079/posts/943383824489702/?app=fbl
“WE WILL NEVER RETURN TO LIVING IN MDUMBI”
Since posting the story of the family that was accosted by thugs 21 September 2024 in the Transkei, this office has been inundated with calls and emails of horror stories from victims.
Below is one account from a couple who survived a brutal home invasion along the Mdumbi River where they were building their dream home. This dream has been shattered and this couple will NOT be returning to Mdumbi.
“We live in a rented house positioned on the banks of the Mdumbi river where we are building our own house. I have been in the area for ten (10) years and speak fluent Xhosa. So many of our friends envied our life but today we find ourselves envying theirs.
On 24 September 2024 at around 00h10 we woke to our dogs barking followed by gunshots and then the sound of our front door being kicked down. Another two shots were fired from a person/persons we could not see out in the dark. Immediately men rushed into our home whilst shouting at us to step into view. Another bullet came in through the house from behind me. I knew that we were under attack.
I dropped to my knees with my hands in the air. I surrendered to three (3) men who had barged into our home. I just knew that there were more outside. I was grabbed and thrown face down on the ground with a knee on my back. My hands were tied together with electrical cable. My wife, who had been hiding in the bathroom, was laid face down next to me. Her hands were bound with the belt of the gown that she was wearing.
For the next three hours we were tortured and made to give up the PIN codes to our phones, lap tops and banking apps. One of the men was computer savvy. One was extremely aggressive. He kept assaulting me and threatening to shoot us. He showed me his pistol. He told me that he had taken it from a Policemen. To me, the pistol looked like S
“WE WILL NEVER RETURN TO LIVING IN MDUMBI”
Since posting the story of the family that was accosted by thugs 21 September 2024 in the Transkei, this office has been inundated with calls and emails of horror stories from victims.
Below is one account from a couple who survived a brutal home invasion along the Mdumbi River where they were building their dream home. This dream has been shattered and this couple will NOT be returning to Mdumbi.
“We live in a rented house positioned on the banks of the Mdumbi river where we are building our own house. I have been in the area for ten (10) years and speak fluent Xhosa. So many of our friends envied our life but today we find ourselves envying theirs.
On 24 September 2024 at around 00h10 we woke to our dogs barking followed by gunshots and then the sound of our front door being kicked down. Another two shots were fired from a person/persons we could not see out in the dark. Immediately men rushed into our home whilst shouting at us to step into view. Another bullet came in through the house from behind me. I knew that we were under attack.
I dropped to my knees with my hands in the air. I surrendered to three (3) men who had barged into our home. I just knew that there were more outside. I was grabbed and thrown face down on the ground with a knee on my back. My hands were tied together with electrical cable. My wife, who had been hiding in the bathroom, was laid face down next to me. Her hands were bound with the belt of the gown that she was wearing.
For the next three hours we were tortured and made to give up the PIN codes to our phones, lap tops and banking apps. One of the men was computer savvy. One was extremely aggressive. He kept assaulting me and threatening to shoot us. He showed me his pistol. He told me that he had taken it from a Policemen. To me, the pistol looked like SAPS issue. This man told me that he had killed before and that he would not hesitate to kill my wife and I if we did not co-operate.
The third man was more gentle. He seemed like he was not really into what was happening to us and he continued to reassure me that we would be okay so long as we complied with the psycho man with the gun.
I was forced to transfer all of my money into my wife’s account. The computer literate guy changed our daily drawing limit on our banking apps.
After three (3) hours of being assaulted and tortured, the men loaded up everything of value into our vehicle, a white Fortuner JTW735EC. This was after torturing me to establish whether there was a tracking system in the vehicle. There wasn’t one but the psycho guy wouldn’t believe me. He continued to beat me. Eventually my wife and I were also loaded into the Fortuner. I was warned that if they discovered that I had lied about the tracking unit that I would be killed.
They drove for about 10km before dragging us from the vehicle and leaving us next to the Mdumbi River bridge further upstream. We were warned that if we screamed for help that somebody would come and kill us.
Back to back my wife and I freed each others hands. We then began the walk home, arriving at home at around 05h45.
I am a website developer by profession. All of my computer equipment was taken along with our mobile phones and bank cards. All of our cash was taken from our accounts. To date the bank has managed to return R3,000.00 to us.
We are so very thankful and feel very Blessed to be alive.
We reported the home invasion to the police at Mdumbi. Our CAS 129/09/24.
We will not be returning to the place we once called home. This was a terrifying experience which we do not wish upon anybody. The sad thing for me, this terrible ordeal notwithstanding, is the ripple affect of this, that being that we are employers in the area and that there are those who rely on wages from us to survive. These poor people now have no income with mouths to feed. I understand that we are the 17th family to be attacked in this way in the past few months in our area alone.
None of our goods, including our vehicle have been recovered".
FROM BRAD NATHANSON
What more is there to say? I spoke personally with this victim who asked not to have to recount the torture as this was something that he and his wife are trying to put behind them. Rampant, violent crime is recent to this area that suffered previously from petty and almost "acceptable" levels of crime but this has escalated in the past few months. Who is behind this and why? These are the burning questions along with "How will this ever be curtailed?"
Be safe.
