Audacious Tzaneen thief not yet caught

Herald has been reporting on the break-ins at residences and businesses in the Boundary Road area by an audacious thief in the past few weeks. Over the weekend, a man resembling the elusive thief was spotted in the Arbor Park area. One resident said that she saw him peek through her bedroom window and that he was armed with a long knife. “I am sure he was trying to see what was inside and did not realise that there was someone home,” she said.

Another resident said the thief stole items from his home and had the audacity to return after a while. Over the weekend several sightings of suspicious persons were reported in Boundary Street and in Arbor Park. In Denne Street, someone was spotted climbing over a gate and in the early hours of Sunday morning, alarms were heard on the corner of Kiepersol and Soetdoring streets and neighbours allegedly heard screaming.

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Security companies were driving around searching for the suspect, but the elusive thief was not to be found. Uwe Kröh, the chairperson of the Tzaneen Community Policing Forum (CPF), told the Herald they are planning an operation this week with the Tzaneen SAPS, security companies, and residents to see if they can catch him. “We will be going from door to door to make sure that residents have enough measures in place to keep their residences safe.

“A big problem is that most residents never lock their houses, and thieves are able to walk in and take what they want and leave. “I would advise residents to always make sure that their doors and even their garage doors are locked, and that all windows are closed. “When we are on patrol, we see a lot of garage doors standing open giving criminals easy access to their homes,” he said. He urged residents to pay attention when they hear dogs bark and check if everything is in order.

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“Even if you find that it is only a cat, it’s always good to make sure that there is nothing more.” He appealed to the community to cooperate with them as they are all volunteers patrolling neighbourhoods. “Also report all burglaries to the police, it will reflect the true statistics and will make our work easier,” he said.

Two weeks ago, the Herald reported on break-ins in Boundary Street at the offices of Alan Kenney of Kenney Brokers. A thief entered the building by crawling through a window in the early hours of the morning of Wednesday, August 16. On Friday, September 1, the Kenney offices were again the target of a break-in. Sgt Maurice Nkhwashu, spokesperson for the Tzaneen SAPS, told the Herald earlier that in August, 28 break-ins were reported, 14 at residences and 14 at businesses.