GOGO Annah Kekana (80) from Ramogodi Village in the North West was allegedly assaulted and choked by two thugs at her home on Wednesday, 14 December.
According to gogo Annah who is still traumatised, the incident happened at about 3pm when she was sleeping alone in her bedroom.
She said she heard two men calling her to the gate.
Gogo said when she went out to the gate she found the thugs, who pretended to be Eskom officials and had come to check her meter box.
She told Daily Sun that Eskom officials have never visited her home before and his was the first time.
“I opened the gate for them. One was caring a black and yellow school bag. They told me that they had come to check the meter box because our electricity had been tripping and I believed them,” she said.
Gogo Annah said that they had been having electricity issues for the past three months.
“I thought my granddaughter, Malebo Kekana (35), had sent them to look at the electricity problem. Those thugs didn’t give me a chance to think straight,” she said.
She said the thugs are professionals as they told her they wanted to also check if she had not connected electricity illegally.
Gogo Annah said when they got into the house, one thug grabbed her and almost strangled her to death.
“They told me that they don’t want to kill me, but I must show them where the money is. They tied me and pushed a towel inside my mouth so that I couldn’t scream. Even though I managed to scream, no one came to my rescue,” she said.
The gogo, who is living with three tenants in her yard, said one tenant and his girlfriend were in their room when the robbery happened but they claim that they didn’t hear her screaming.
The gogo said the thugs were not carrying any weapon.
“One thug put the kettle on and threatened to pour boiling water on my face if I failed to co-operate and show them where the money was,” she said.
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The sad gogo said the evil thugs punched her on the mouth.
“My mouth is still painful and I’m struggling to eat. After being tortured, I ended up showing them where the money was inside the wardrobe.
She said the thugs took R42 000 of her pension money, R17 000 of her late husband’s pension, and R2 000 from her church as she is the treasurer.
Gogo Annah said she has been saving this money for a long time so that she could erect a tombstone for her mother, Johanna Kekana (85), who died in 2013.
The gogo said immediately after the thugs ran out of her house, she managed to untie herself.
She said she managed to recognise one of the thugs.
“I have seen him coming to my house before, visiting his friend, who is one of my tenants,’ said gogo Annah.
She alleges that the tenant planned this whole thing.
She also said that it was the first time she was robbed since the tenants moved in four months ago.
“The thugs almost killed me. I want them arrested and they must bring back my money,” said Annah.
Malebo said that they are not happy with the police investigations.
“We want the tenant and his girlfriend to be arrested because my grandmother saw one of the suspects visiting them on several occasions,” she said.
She said after confronting the tenant, he is now threatening the family saying that he is known in the streets for bad things.
“We are now scared that the thugs will kill my grandmother because she knows one of them,” she said.
The family is appealing for help and wants the provincial police commissioner to intervene in the matter.
North West spokeswoman Colonel Adéle Myburgh said: “We can confirm that a case for house robbery is under investigation. It was reported on Wednesday, 14 December. Police visited the complainant and her family on Thursday, 15 December.”
Myburgh also said that it is of utmost importance that police act on evidence, not on suspicion, and that all persons should be treated with respect without violating their rights.
“The investigation is continuing,” she said.
