At 4:30am on Sunday, 17 August, the Jes Foord Foundation's trauma counsellor, Michelle Smith, received a call from Blue Security to report that there had been a break in at their Mariannhill Multi-purpose Counselling Centre.
Upon arrival she and Blue Security personnel witnessed the horrendous destruction of each container and discovered the security guard had been beaten and tied up.
Smith said, “Our security guard was in such shock, he could not speak and just began to cry. He reported later that eight men came onto the property around 12.30am with weapons and assaulted and tied him up and piled wooden pallets on top of him.”
With Blue Security, Michelle called the Mariannhill police station. The police came out and were informed by the day guards coming for their morning shift, that they saw men carrying furniture. The police as well as Blue Security went in pursuit of the suspects. They found two vans with the stolen property, the vans were brought to the police station and one suspect was arrested and the drivers questioned.
On Monday, 18 August, a forensic finger expert went to the centre to take finger prints and informed them that more suspects have been arrested.
“We are grateful for the amazing assistance of Blue Security as well as Captain Naidoo of the Mariannhill police station,” said Smith.
“It is a very sad day for the Foundation, as the centre has only been open for five months and in that time has already touched so many survivors lives and provided life skills for youth, which has led to their employment.”
Although most of the stolen property was retrieved, the damage that was done to the centre was extremely destructive. The metal panels of each container that made up the centre was ripped open.
“We are appealing to the public and companies to help us with the cost to repair our centre, as we had to close our doors until further notice, as we cannot expose our survivors to the current state of our centre, as well as now needing to re-establish it as a safe haven.”
“Every survivor that has come for counselling at the centre, has commented on how the peace and tranquillity has helped them along their journey to recovery. With this incident, we now have to try and recreate a sense of safety, which is a huge added financial task for the Foundation, as we always want to provide an environment that helps the survivor regain their personal safety and trust.”
Jes Foord added, “My heart is sad to see such a beautiful place in such ruin and to know that the funding that will be used to repair the damage of the centre could have been going towards the employment of a new Zulu speaking counsellor to further help this community.”
If you would like to help please contact the Jes Foord Foundation on 031 765 4559.
This is just horrific, thank goodness no one was hurt severely. Though it’s bad but @least the furniture can be replaced rather than the lives of innocent people. I hope and wish that this doesn’t happen ever again as the suspects were caught.