'Considerate' robber apologises
2008-08-26 08:52
Pretoria - A father from Delmas had to drive himself to hospital after he was shot in the stomach by a gang of robbers during a house robbery. One of the robbers was apparently very "considerate".
Meanwhile his wife, who had been kidnapped by the attackers, had to show the robbers how to drive her car.
"Sorry miesies (madam)," one of the robbers kept saying to the woman while he and another man drove around with her.
Gerrie Pretorius, 42, was admitted to a Benoni hospital in the early hours of Sunday morning. He had to undergo an emergency operation and was still in intensive care on Monday.
His wife Tersia, 45, told how her husband was sitting in the living room listening to music shortly before midnight on Saturday evening when the robbers broke a bedroom window.
Shot in stomach
Her husband went to investigate and found a robber in the TV room, who shot him in the stomach.
She woke up and found her husband on the floor of the TV room. Their daughter Clara, 13, also rushed in.
The robbers kept Tersia away from her bleeding husband, and took her through the house. They stole money, cellphones, all her shoes and jewellery, shirts belonging to her husband and son Renier, 15, as well as the family's warm jackets and computers.
"They first wanted to drive my husband's BMW but then decided to take my car as I told them it did not have a tracking system."
Tersia was forced into the car with two of the robbers while one robber stayed behind with her husband and children.
'Sorry miesies'
The two men drove around with her for about two hours before dropping her off on the N12 near Etwatwa. "I had to explain to them how to drive the car and even how to change the gears."
She said that one of the robbers was "very considerate".
"He kept saying to me, 'Sorry miesies (madam)'. Even when they dropped me off, one nudged me and said he was sorry."
She tried to stop cars on the highway. "People just switched on their lights and sped past. After the twentieth car, a truck stopped and these two men took me home."
Meanwhile, Pretorius called the police station after the robber had left the house. No one answered and he and Renier drove to the police station.
"At the police station Renier jumped out and looked for help. The members on duty told him my husband had to make a statement himself. They then drove to the Delmas hospital."
Pretorius could not be treated at this hospital, and he was taken by ambulance to two other hospitals.
Tersia said she was scared while driving around with the robbers. "But it only makes us stronger. I am not going to sit down and give up."
She said her husband would have another operation on Tuesday. Her car was found in Daveyton on Monday.
Delmas police station spokesperson, Constable Dinah Mashiane, confirmed the house robbery. She was unaware of police's alleged poor response but said it would be investigated.