AN 82-YEAR-OLD Phoenix father sustained a fractured skull after he was brutally assaulted and hit on the head with a copper pipe, by a thief he caught red-handed outside his Brookdale home.
His quick-thinking wife saved his life when she pressed the alarm panic button and began screaming for help – which made the thief flee.
The man, who did not want to be named, has been discharged from hospital after undergoing surgery last week. His fractured skull caused pressure to his brain, requiring an operation.
The victim’s daughter told the POST that her father lived in the house with her 69-year-old mother and two siblings.
“On April 24, my brother left for work at 5.30am. Around 6am, my sister was getting ready to leave when she saw a suspicious looking man walking on the road. She waited for the man to walk to another road before she drove off.”
The daughter said a few minutes later, her mother noticed that the water supply to the house had been turned off.
“My father was in the lounge and he went outside to investigate. There was a man outside stealing the copper pipes. He turned on my father and attacked him with the copper pipe.
“My father was hit on his head. He tried to get away from the man by walking quickly into the house. But the man followed him inside and continued to assault him with the copper pipe on his body and arms.”
The daughter said that when her mother heard the commotion and saw the man enter the house with her husband, she began screaming.
“She then pressed the panic button, which alerted the KZN VIP private security company. Her screams also alerted the neighbours and this scared the man off. When the security company received the panic alert, they contacted my sister who was in the Palmview area at the time. She turned her car around and went back home.”
The daughter said her father, who had been bleeding profusely, was stabilised by paramedics before being transported to hospital.
“His skull was cracked and this was putting pressure on his brain. He also sustained injuries to his chest and arms. He underwent surgery to his skull last Wednesday. At the time, the doctors told us it was risky surgery because of my father’s age and health complications, including a heart condition. He has a stent and a pacemaker. We were all so scared but are thankful the surgery was a success,” she said.
She described the attack on her father as “vicious”.
“This attack and assault on a defenceless 82-year-old man is uncalled for. We are just praying my father makes a full recovery.”
She said her mother was traumatised by the incident.
“She was recently discharged from hospital after health complications. She is very worried about my father. Despite her ill health, her quick thinking to press the panic button saved them both.”
She said they were not sure how the man got onto the property.
“My family moved into the area in 1989. At the time, it was safe for the children to play outside until late at night and walk to school. But in the last 10 years crime has increased drastically, making the neighbourhood unsafe.”
She said her parent’s home was fully fenced with barbed wire and a security system.
“About six weeks ago a chair was stolen from the yard and they put in double barbed wire on a portion of the fence to secure the home. Despite this, the man managed to get into the yard. Petty crime is a problem in the area. Other residents have also had their copper pipes and other household items stolen in recent months.”
Gareth Naidoo, the spokesperson for KZN VIP, said the theft of copper pipes from homes in Phoenix and Newlands was on the rise.
“We receive a minimum of five reports a day from residents in these areas. This is a petty crime but it has become more violent. Previously, these thieves would flee when they saw residents but now they are attacking them and trying to get into their homes.”
Naidoo said the copper pipes were sold for quick cash – in most cases by drug addicts.
Mark Nadasen, the spokesperson for the Phoenix Community Police Forum, said this was the fifth attack in the community.
“These thieves are terrorising our community. Our investigations show most of them are drug addicts. They sell the stolen pipes to scrap metal dealers for between R20 and R25 – enough for their next fix.”
Nadasen said they were working with police to clamp down on crime.
“Phoenix police have started closing down the residential scrap yards and we have extended our patrol times at night and during the early hours of the morning. We advise residents not to confront the thieves but rather call the police for help,” he added.
In December last year, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime released a report titled, “South Africa’s Illicit Copper Economy”.
It said the first link in the illicit copper value chain was the people involved in the actual theft.
“This group takes the greatest risk for the least reward, and there are two categories. The first involves petty criminals who steal copper to eke out a living or sustain substance addiction. They use rudimentary tools, such as bolt cutters, saws, poles and rubber bands, for isolation and binding, and largely target municipal grids and depots, usually stealing small quantities at a time.”
The second category included more sophisticated groups of between 10 and 30 people.
“They are working as independent contractors or as part of organised networks or syndicates. Their equipment is also more specialised, and they are known to make use of trucks, winches and mechanised cutting equipment. Previous research indicates that these groups are involved in large-scale theft, and have the technical skill to steal the large overhead cables used by Transnet and Eskom, as well as the capacity to transport heavy-duty cables to dealers.”
The report said strategic and targeted investigations and prosecutions were needed.
The POST