Norkem Park SAPS says plans are in place to up policing in Birch Acres Extension 4 after the area fell victim to multiple violent crimes.
“I found a woman lying in a pool of blood, with her husband crying over her,” proportional representation councillor Mabekenyane Thamahane told Express.
He heard multiple gunshots not far from his home at around 2.30am on April 1 and rushed to the scene with fellow concerned neighbours. At the entrance to a cottage, adjoining the main house, they found the female victim with four gunshot wounds in her arm and breast.
“The husband was holding her, crying. He shouted that three suspects entered their home and demanded cellphones, money and their television,” Thamahane recalled. Two of the suspects were armed.
The husband said a scuffle ensued between him and the unarmed suspect, which led them to outside the cottage. His wife exited the house screaming, after which she was shot.
According to Thamahane, the woman miraculously survived the incident and is recovering in hospital.
“Doctors are worried about her lungs, as they have not been able to remove one bullet that puts her in danger.”
He added that a further two cottages were ransacked on the same evening, but it remained unclear whether the crimes were linked.
Col Tobias Strauss, station commander for Norkem Park SAPS, said the office was deeply concerned about the sudden targeting of Birch Acres Ext 4.
“We have deployed the Crime Prevention Unit in the area and no new house robberies have been reported.”
Thamahane added that a meeting was held on Sunday, where residents discussed the possibility of having parts of Birch Acres Ext 4 enclosed.
