Residents living in affluent neighbourhoods in East London continue to be plagued by what is believed to be a highly organised burglary syndicate.
Several upmarket homes have been broken into during the past few weeks, with the burglars often by-passing advanced alarm systems and stealing high-value jewellery.
In the latest incident, thieves broke into the home of well-known Eastern Cape advocate Mzwandile Ntsaluba SC on Tuesday.
Ntsaluba’s home in Galway Road is not far from Bonnie Doon, where residents have been shocked by a spate of break-ins.
“We are separated by Beach Road. What I can tell you is that there is something going on here that was not happening before,” Ntsaluba said.
“There is a trend. The modus operandi is the same as in those houses in Bonnie Doon – they entered the same way before trying to neutralise the alarm.”
The thieves only managed to escape with R500 in silver coins after failing to neutralise the alarm system. “They had limited time – I was lucky that they couldn’t defuse the alarm otherwise they were going to clean me out.”
The ceiling trap door was on the floor, indicating that the suspects went into the ceiling.
Ntsaluba said in other reported burglaries the thieves get into the ceiling for the alarm panel in order to manipulate the alarm.
“They clearly abandoned their mission due to limited time after they failed to neutralise the alarm.”
Ntsaluba, who is chairman of the Bhisho Bar of Advocates, was at work at the time of the incident.
His two sons were also not home at the time.
“From the moment when the security company called and informed me that they were picking a signal from my home I immediately directed them to send an armed response team because I knew no-one was home.”
Ntsaluba believes the thieves had planned to steal his cars as well, as he found the keys to his Land Rover SUV and Mercedes Benz on the scene where they were operating inside the house.
“My wristwatch was also next to the keys – they sorted everything they wanted carefully.”
Police spokesman Nkosikho Mzuku said: “Police have conducted all preliminary investigations. The investigation continues, no arrests yet. Our investigators are hard at work on cases of this nature.”
lIn a separate case, provincial police confirmed yesterday they were investigating two recent cases of burglary that took place in Stirling. In a statement to the Daily Dispatch on Wednesday Eastern Cape police spokeswoman Brigadier Marinda Mills said: “Two housebreaking and theft cases were reported on February and March 2017.
“These two cases are still under investigation. Our detectives are working around the clock to crack these cases.”—-malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
Advocate feels brunt of EL burglary scourge
Several upmarket homes have been broken into during the past few weeks, with the burglars often by-passing advanced alarm systems and stealing high-value jewellery.
In the latest incident, thieves broke into the home of well-known Eastern Cape advocate Mzwandile Ntsaluba SC on Tuesday.
Ntsaluba’s home in Galway Road is not far from Bonnie Doon, where residents have been shocked by a spate of break-ins.
“We are separated by Beach Road. What I can tell you is that there is something going on here that was not happening before,” Ntsaluba said.
“There is a trend. The modus operandi is the same as in those houses in Bonnie Doon – they entered the same way before trying to neutralise the alarm.”
The thieves only managed to escape with R500 in silver coins after failing to neutralise the alarm system. “They had limited time – I was lucky that they couldn’t defuse the alarm otherwise they were going to clean me out.”
The ceiling trap door was on the floor, indicating that the suspects went into the ceiling.
Ntsaluba said in other reported burglaries the thieves get into the ceiling for the alarm panel in order to manipulate the alarm.
“They clearly abandoned their mission due to limited time after they failed to neutralise the alarm.”
Ntsaluba, who is chairman of the Bhisho Bar of Advocates, was at work at the time of the incident.
His two sons were also not home at the time.
“From the moment when the security company called and informed me that they were picking a signal from my home I immediately directed them to send an armed response team because I knew no-one was home.”
Ntsaluba believes the thieves had planned to steal his cars as well, as he found the keys to his Land Rover SUV and Mercedes Benz on the scene where they were operating inside the house.
“My wristwatch was also next to the keys – they sorted everything they wanted carefully.”
Police spokesman Nkosikho Mzuku said: “Police have conducted all preliminary investigations. The investigation continues, no arrests yet. Our investigators are hard at work on cases of this nature.”
lIn a separate case, provincial police confirmed yesterday they were investigating two recent cases of burglary that took place in Stirling. In a statement to the Daily Dispatch on Wednesday Eastern Cape police spokeswoman Brigadier Marinda Mills said: “Two housebreaking and theft cases were reported on February and March 2017.
“These two cases are still under investigation. Our detectives are working around the clock to crack these cases.”—-malibongwed@dispatch.co.za
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