SODWANA Bay, the international dive destination of choice, is fast becoming a crime hot spot, wreaking havoc among residents and tourists alike, yet suspects continue to elude police.
This year alone, three holidaymakers to Sodwana Bay have been shot as a result of armed robberies, one of which occurred inside the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in the Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife-run campsite.
The assailants responsible for all three attacks remain at large.
In other cases, holidaymakers have been held up at knife point on the beach, also inside the wetland park, while others were held up at gunpoint while picnicking at Lake Sibaya.
Early last month, long-time Sodwana resident, Cathy Bloemhof, survived an attack at her home during which four men broke down her kitchen door and smashed her bedroom windows while she was asleep.
Arming herself with a baseball bat, Bloemhof went outside once the noise had quietened down and she had telephoned friends for help.
There the attackers, armed with pipes and other implements, started beating her before entering the house, demanding money and cellphones. The handicapped friend staying with Bloemhof temporarily was also beaten.
Once inside the house, Bloemhof’s attackers stole her cellphone, laptop and baseball bat before fleeing the scene before her friends arrived, with police officers arriving an hour after having been called.
‘They also destroyed the canister containing my late-husband’s ashes, probably because they thought it was a jewellery box,’ recalled Bloemhof.
Second break-in in one month
Having barely recovered from the previous attack which left her badly bruised and with hairline fractures, too scared to stay on the property alone, Bloemhof removed her valuables from her house and has been sleeping at a friend’s house for the last ten days.
On Tuesday night all three houses on her property were broken into, her own house completely ransacked, the security gates and doors destroyed. ‘They stole broken cellphones, broken dive cameras, wine, an old GPS, my late-husband’s glucometer, LED torches and some tools,’ said Bloemhof. ‘They even looked in the dustbin for things to steal.’
Dead-end investigation
After the first robbery, Mbazwana Station Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Zungu, allegedly ordered a detective to the scene almost 48 hours after he was assigned to the case.
Although one suspect was arrested when he attempted to sell Bloemhof’s laptop, the others are yet to be apprehended, despite being seen in town everyday, residents claim.
A new detective has since been assigned to Bloemhof’s first robbery and, despite the suspects rifling through everything in her house, fingerprint officers left the scene without dusting for fingerprints, allegedly laughing that they would never find anything.
‘How am I supposed to get my life back together when break-ins keep happening and I am too scared to sleep in my own home?’ asked a tearful Bloemhof, while waiting for fingerprint officers to dust for prints following the second burglary.
Mbazwana SAPS Station Commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Zungu, could not be reached for comment.
@TamlynJolly
DID YOU KNOW?
Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.
For news straight to your phone invite us:
BBM – 25A0BF5A or 2B7993C8
