‘Security guards’ attack man in his own house
Andries Ramopa (54), who lives in an informal settlement some 36km outside the city on the Matlala road, will never forget the horrifying night he was brutally attacked in his own home by two men in security guards uniforms.
POLOKWANE – Andries Ramopa (54), who lives in an informal settlement some 36km outside the city on the Matlala road, will never forget the horrifying night he was brutally attacked in his own home by two men in security guards uniforms.
The incident, which occurred last Friday night, left Ramopa with a broken nose, some broken fingers and several cuts all over.
Ramopa said he had just returned home with his girlfriend when two men dressed as security guards entered his house and started searching the house while they accused him of being in possession of drugs.
He said when they found a match box filled with tobacco; they accused him of having dagga in his house.
“When they realised it was just tobacco, they continued the search.
“One of the men started asking me insulting questions about my girlfriend and I replied that it was none of his business. He became angry and grabbed a knobkierie and started hitting me with it. They first hit me in the knees, and then moved to my head.
“All the time they were screaming at me that I had no respect for law officials. I protected my face with my hands and that was when some of my fingers were broken,” Ramopa said.
The last thing Andries remembered was that one man said “let’s leave this dog to sleep, let’s leave this bleeding dog and go”.
Before they left, one of the men told Ramopa’s girlfriend that if they told anyone what had happened, they would come back and kill her.
Ramopa said he was too scared to go to the hospital or the police. He hid in his house until a relative came to find him later that evening.
The relative took him to the Pietersburg Provincial Hospital where his injuries were treated. He also opened a case of assault with the Polokwane police.
Ramopa alleged it was not the first time such an incident had occurred, and he had heard of similar incidents involving two so called security guards. He said he could not say where his attackers worked as their shirts only had the word “security” on them without any badges or names.
Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala confirmed that an assault case had been opened.
“We will have an identity parade during which the victim can point out the people responsible,” he said.
Phala said they had no record of other similar cases having been reported. He asked anyone with information to come forward and report to the Polokwane police station.
