Holidaymaker tells how she shot robber
2012-10-04 09:56
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Candyce Krishna, The Witness
Durban - A Germiston woman, on holiday at St Michael’s between Margate and Port Shepstone, braved her attacker and shot him dead after he and an accomplice robbed her in her holiday cottage on Tuesday morning.
The wounded robber made a brief bid for freedom, before he collapsed and died.
His accomplice left him behind and fled with the stolen items.
Maria Bester said her husband and eldest son had left for the beach at about 06:00. Bester’s 11-year-old son remained with her at the cottage.
Shadow
“I said goodbye to them and closed the gate. I went back to bed and was going through my cellphone when I saw a shadow go into the bathroom,” she said.
Bester said the man greeted her and went into the kitchen to get a knife.
He demanded cellphones and cash. Meanwhile, his accomplice ransacked the rest of the cottage.
Bester was not aware of the other intruder in the cottage.
“I gave him my cellphone and R120 that I had in my wallet. But he insisted that there was more and he wanted it.”
When she told the man that she did not have more money, he became aggressive. He then took jewellery that was lying on the bedside table.
“He then left the room, probably to see where his accomplice was. I quickly reached for our gun,” she said.
Both men returned to the room and demanded that she give them the gun. The man with the knife then came towards Bester and tried to stab her. She shot him twice - once in the chest and then in the stomach.
“They both ran out of the cottage. I ran after them and fired a few more shots. The wounded man collapsed about 100 metres away.”
'You killed him!'
She said his accomplice shouted at her: “You killed him!”
He then fled with the stolen items.
“My husband is the chairman of our community policing forum so I’m clued up on what to do in situations like these. I kept calm and listened,” she said.
Bester said it was an extremely traumatising experience but she was grateful that neither she nor her son was hurt.
“My son was with me the whole time and they also asked if he had a cellphone. Thank God they didn’t hurt him,” she said.
Bester added that while it was unfortunate that the incident occurred while she was on holiday, it didn’t change the way she felt about the South Coast. “I still like the place. This could have happened anywhere in the world.”
Police spokesperson Captain Gerald Mfeka said the accomplice was arrested on Tuesday afternoon.
“Information was received on the whereabouts of the suspect, which led to the arrest,” he said.
The suspect from Gamalakhe, who is believed to be 18 and in Grade 10, will appear in court on Thursday.
