When Johqnny Matthee (74) and his wife Marthie (68) arrived home at 12.30pm, they didn’t expect to find two men in their house.
They left home to go to the CBD to do some shopping and decided to stop at home first before going for lunch.
Marthie unlocked the front door and was surprised when she wasn’t greeted by her friendly dogs.
Instead, she was attacked.
Her first reaction was to grab the whip next to the door to try and defend herself.
“I gave him two good lashes with the whip, but he took the whip from me,” she says.
The robber then threw Marthie to the ground and pulled off some of the rings from her fingers.
When she shouted “Lord please help us!”, the robber responded with “shut up and work with me”.
When Johnny entered the house, he was grabbed by the other robber, who threw him to the ground.
Johnny realised he had to fight for his life when the man tried to put a plastic bag over his head.
“I fought with all the strength I had left in me until he eventually gave up and wrapped the plastic bag over my mouth,” he says.
The men tried to tie the couple’s hands with cord from an electric fan, but failed.
One of the robbers then called out and a third man entered the house.
He took Marthie’s handbag and took out her cellphone.
When Willie Fourie, the Mathee’s neighbour, drove past, he noticed a man running into his neighbour’s house.
Fourie says he immediately realised something was wrong and stopped his vehicle a few houses down the road and went to investigate.
When Fourie got to the Matthee’s house, the front door was locked.
He knocked at the door and then rang the doorbell.
He says he found two very traumatised people when the front door opened.
The robbers were allegedly startled when they heard the doorbell and fled the scene.
The Matthee’s believe they were saved by Fourie and the doorbell.
A black bag containing cigarettes and women’s underwear was left behind by the robbers.
Springs police spokesman Capt Johannes Ramphora confirmed the incident.
He says the men gained access by breaking open the security gate and back door.
“They only got away with Johnny’s wallet,” he adds.
