Jaco and Melize van der Walt, family and visiting friends survive armed attack by foul-mouthed, aggressive black males in Barberton -- Feb 10 2014
She was pulled off the bed and the men threatened to rape her. She begged them to let her go and pleaded for the life of her child.
Anchen Coetzee 11 February 2014 14:45
Jaco and Melize van der Walt, family and friends survive brutal attack by black men: Norman Nader Street, Barberton:
BARBERTON Feb 10 2014 -- Barberton is not the quiet and safe town it used to be years ago. Crime is increasing by the week and in the past months only, the rate of armed robberies, combined with assault at both private residences and business premises, has greatly escalated.
On Monday, a much-traumatised Melize van der Walt spoke to Barberton Times about an armed robbery which took place at their home in Norman Nader Street on Friday evening.She and her husband Jaco van der Walt were having friends over. The evening was planned as part of a baby shower for their friend, seven months pregnant.Besides this couple, four other guests were also present.
At approximately 22:00, while the grown-ups were socialising on the veranda, young Henro van der Walt (5) and the other couple’s daughter and son of five and two respectively, were inside watching television. On the other couch, three-year old Marlo van der Walt was fast asleep and so too was six-month-old Lohan van der Walt in his crib in the bedroom.
While the guests were socialising, four men came around the corner of the house and not long afterwards, a fifth approached the group from the other corner at the back of the house. While all this was happening, the kids remained asleep.
“They just stood there, staring at us. Three were carrying firearms, and almost immediately raised them. The others carried wooden sticks.
“At that stage our Great Dane, Zia, who had been lying quietly at my feet the whole evening, jumped up and stormed towards the intruders, but just as quickly, backed down, terrified,” Melize said.
Much later that evening the Van der Walts realised that Zia must have been given poison before the incident took place.
One of the armed men, presumably the leader, ordered the group of friends to get inside the house and told them to lie on the floor and keep quiet.
They did as they were told and the criminals drew all the curtains and closed the doors. They ordered everyone to hand over their jewellery and started ripping it off if they didn’t act fast enough.
The thugs then proceeded to ransack the rooms and came back with shoelaces, ties and some belts which they used to tie their hands and feet.
“They were very aggressive and at one stage, one friend looked up and was hit with one of the sticks, whereas I also received part of the blow,” she said.
According to Melize, the black males used foul language and commanded the group to look down, “Don’t look at our faces!”
They inquired who the owner of the house was and when Jaco identified himself, they tied him up even tighter and proceeded to ask who the lady of the house was.
“They instructed me to follow them to the kitchen. I told my son, who was on the floor at that time, to remain there and to keep quiet and pray. In the kitchen, they took my baby’s diaper bag and wanted to know where the money was. I had nothing in my purse, but in the side bag there was R20.
At that moment the leader totally lost his temper. He threw Melize against the cupboard close to where the panic button was located and started searching the bag. That was when they found Jaco’s wallet, which contained about R600. While they were searching the bag, she pressed the silent panic button under the counter three times.
What she didn’t know then, was that in order for the button to activate at Hi-Tech, she had to hold it in for at least three seconds.
“Whenever they looked at me, I would hold my head at such an angle that they wouldn’t realise there was a panic button; because I knew if they saw me, they would have shot me there and then.”
Melize was taken to the master suite where her baby was still asleep. When they questioned her about a safe, she said there wasn’t one and the men then inquired about firearms.
She told them about the pellet gun in her husband’s closet and in his blind rage, the man shouted at her, “I want to see real guns like this one” and he pressed its muzzle against her eye. Melize, who by now was only worried about her child, didn’t scream, however, she was crying. “I want a safe!
Stop crying,” he shouted.“With this demand, they pressed my mouth shut and hit me in the ribs with the wooden stick so I couldn’t make a sound. The one guy, who they called James, was very panicky and it was clear that he was scared of the leader, who then proceeded to put the gun to my baby’s head and told me to shut up and tell them where the safe was.” She was pulled off the bed and the men threatened to rape her. She begged them to let her go and pleaded for the life of her child and told them about a jewellery box she had inherited from her mother, who passed away when she was only a baby.
“They left me, threw the jewellery into a bag and tied me up with shoelaces that also belonged to my mother. I begged them to leave the jewellery box as it was all I had left of her. This, they said, they would do if I stopped crying.”
The criminals took her to her other son’s room and also brought the other women there. They wanted her pregnant friend to lie down on the floor, but Melize asked them to allow her to lie on the bed. The children who were awake were brought in and after they had rid the house of things that were mostly electronic and piled it in the two Toyota bakkies outside, they left. Among these were Melize’s camera and lenses. She is a photographer and cannot work without this equipment.
After a few moments, they heard their husbands shout in the lounge and that was when Melize got up and pressed the panic button located outside her son’s room.
“Hi-Tech arrived within two minutes,” she said. “The men took everything they could lay their hands on that was remotely valuable and had the audacity to pack snacks, as well as a bottle of rum for the road,” said Melize.
She described their house as being in an absolute chaotic state. When the thugs reached Malalane, the Metro police intercepted them which resulted in a shootout and the Toyota bakkie crashing into a tree. By the time the officials reached the vehicle, there was no sign of the thugs.
The other bakkie was found abandoned in Komatipoort, a few kilometres from the border. Jaco, as well as the other couple whose vehicles were taken, agreed that there was nothing else they could do but to give their cooperation. “This is something you don’t expect, and to struggle only endangers your life as well as that of everyone else’s. We are very lucky to be alive. “Thank you to everyone who was so kind, especially Liana Nieuwenhuis of Kleutervriend and Herman Bosua for lending us a cellphone and transport.
“Thank you also to Hi-Tech for their quick response. And a very special thank you to my sister, Tanya van Helsdingen, who is staying with us to lend her moral support until emotions have settled.”
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