Victim of Newclare Cemetery robbery speaks out
Perpetrators hunt the living by the dead.
The Newclare Cemetery has not only been left for the dead but has become a short-cut for many working in the area. Workers make their way through the cemetery to take taxi’s in Commando Road or to catch a train at the Longdale Station in Industria.
A caretaker at the cemetery confirmed that people have compiled complaints at the offices but nothing has changed.
The security company that is on the premises are employed to only look after the office and to keep track of the vehicles that enter the cemetery.
“There is no one patrolling that side, it’s too far from the gate and that is where the robbers operate,” said the caretaker.
Serge Ngiaba, a foreman working for the contractor called Boganala in Bosmont became one of the victims at the cemetery on January, 6.
“I knocked off at 12 pm, so I walked through the graveyard to catch a taxi to go to town.
“I found two guys before I could get to the railway lines and they came to me. They had petrol cans and said that they need my help with a R20 or R30 because their car has broken down. I gave them a R20 then they started telling me that they like my watch,” explained Ngiaba.
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Ngiaba mentioned that he asked the men why they were now speaking about his watch when he already helped them out.
“They told me that they know me and that I’m a foreman working here. They said that I’m always wearing nice takkies and clothes. The one said that the other must take the firearm and he had a screwdriver,” explained Ngiaba.
The two men took Ngiaba’s cellphone and his watch and then they also took his money. Ngiaba added that he ran to the security by the gate but when they were on their way back to get the men, the men ran over the railway lines and got away.
Marcus Meyers, an employee of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) said that as soon as the perpetrator see that you are alone they will hunt you down and rob you. When the police from Sophiatown patrols the area, the perpetrators wait until they leave and then they get back to robbing people.
