THUGS TIE GUARD, STEAL BOOZE, E45 000

PIGG’S PEAK – Thugs had a field day at former Ntfonjeni Inkhundla Member of Parliament’s (MP) complex along the Pigg’s Peak-Matsamo Highway. 

The thugs are believed to have walked away with at least E45 000 in cash after five shops were robbed. 

Former MP Henry Dlamini was left shocked at the damages on his property, where doors were vandalised, among other things.

It is alleged the thugs stole cash, sweets, cellphones as well as alcohol valued at over E2 000 as they moved from one shop to another. They also stole flash drives from an electronics shop. 

The thugs, believed to have been six in total, arrived at about midnight and found a security guard but he was no match for them as they were armed with a pistol. 

The thugs allegedly hit the security guard with the pistol and proceeded to tie his hands and legs using a wire. 

They broke into one of the bottle stores situated within the complex and stole alcohol. It is suspected that some of the alcoholic beverages were consumed within the complex as empty containers were found. 

Ransacked

They further ransacked a butchery but nothing was taken there, hence the strong suspicions that they were looking for cash. The thugs also stole from Save Rite Supermarket, where they damaged an alarm system as well as the store’s unit for video recording on Closed Circuit Television (CCTV).

The thugs are said to have stolen cash from the supermarket and removed the safe from the wall then left with it. The safe box was recovered in a nearby bush by children and was handed over to the police. The former MP, when reached for comment, simply confirmed the robbery, but declined to comment further. He referred questions to the police. 

Meanwhile, some of the business owners in the area blamed the robbery on the dagga raids being conducted by the police. Ironically, when the police arrived at the crime scene, they alighted from a vehicle which was taking other officers to destroy dagga at a place known as Mgobodzi. The area is not far from the shopping complex. 

Just last week, police officers had been raiding dagga fields around Nyonyane, Maguga, Mayiwane and Maphalaleni. 

The business owners said many people in the area survived mainly through cultivating dagga and that some were employed in the dagga fields. They alleged that the people behind some of the robberies were most likely those who worked in dagga fields and were now without employment. 

Aroused

Their suspicions were further aroused by that the thugs also stole a popular organic fertiliser branded SeeGrow. The fertiliser was stolen from a hardware store situated within the shopping complex. 

Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed the robbery. She said police were still investigating the matter. She could not confirm the amount stolen from the shops in total, but said at least five businesses had been affected. 

No arrests had been made at the time of compiling this report.

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