Robbers clean up, flee by bike

2008-03-03 23:01

Aletta Otto

Marloth Park - A family from Secunda has been held up and robbed by burglars in the umpteenth robbery of this kind in the Marloth Park area.

A traumatised Sanet Lotz told Beeld on Monday morning: "It was terrible. I started crying and wanted to faint the whole time. The one robber repeatedly said he would kill us."

The incident occurred on Saturday just before 12:00 and the Lotzes, their son and a friend of his were at the couple's holiday home.

According to Sanet, she was watering the garden when a man who seemed as if he was looking for work approached her. However he cocked a firearm when Sanet turned to look at him.

"He ordered me to go into the house. It was only then that I saw there were two more men standing at the door to the house. They also were armed."

According to Sanet, her son, Pierre, 15, and his friend, Ruan Janse van Rensburg, 16, were playing on the deck with a video camera.

They heard the noise downstairs and called Sanet's husband, Louis, 51, who was lying down in the bedroom.

Sanet said: "They tore up a sheet and tied our hands and feet behind our backs. One robber was very aggressive and threatened us the whole time."

'The humiliation is terrible'

She said the robbers searched through the whole house and took nearly all their belongings. They also searched the family's bakkie.

Louis said: "The robbers brought the bakkie's keys back to us and told us to be quiet and to give them two hours in which to get away."

The robbers made their escape with clothes, cellphones, wallets and even alcohol which they had taken.

They fled on foot and on one bicycle with their loot.

Louis took his chance, pressed the panic button and ran to the neighbours for help.

"I feel empty. The humiliation is terrible. The robbers even phoned my friends from my cellphone, making noises in the middle of the night," he said.

According to Louis, the robbers spoke broken English. Police are investigating.

- Beeld