Grateful to be alive: Frikkie 82 and Lettie 81 Coetzee survive ordeal by five black gunmen: Zoutpansberger 6 March 2015;
http://www.zoutpansberger.co.za/articles/news/29594/2015-03-06/dankbaar-hulle-lewe
Survivors Frikkie 82 and Lettie 81 Coetzee tell of their ordeal in attack by black gunmen at Marlene's Nursery they've run for the past 30 years in Louis Trichardt
March 12 2015 report: "The worst part of the attack by black gunmen against their business, Marlene's Nursery in Louis Trichardt, is that the armed blacks had forced Lettie outside at gunpoint -
and Frikkie didn't know if he would ever see her alive again. The armed attack on Saturday 28 february 2015 has left the elderly Afrikaner in shock and considerable anger.
The nightmare started at about 12h45 in the afternoon.
The couple were visiting with their daughter Alice 61 and her husband Pieter Oosthuizen 65 in the lapa behind their home.
Suddenly they heard warning shouts from their workers inside the nursery and realized they were in 'big trouble'.
Lettie, Alice and their housekeeper fled inside. Within seconds however a group of between four to five armed blacks managed to break down the
security gate between the house and the nursery. The gunmen pointed their guns at Frikkie and Pieter, ordering them to lie down.
"You are helpless; what can you do when three 9mm pistols are pointed at your head? " said the still traumatised Frikkie on Monday
to the Zoutpansberger Afrikaans weekly. Lettie was also very upset and emotional when speaking about their ordeal.
The women inside the house locked the inside security-doors to the kitchen, corridor and bedroom as they went to hide inside.
The gunmen - all in their twenties - kicked open the kitchen door and forced all the workers, Frikkie and Pieter inside.
As the armed blacks moved into the house with their hostages at gunpoint, the thugs kicked or broke down all the doors.
When they broke down the bedroom door where the 3 women were hiding, two gunmen grabbed 81-year-old Lettie and forced her to walk back to the
nursery, ordering her to open the safe and ordered Alice to open the second safe - they knew exactly where these were located was.
The gunmen stole money and Frikkie Coetzee's handgun which had been locked into the safe - as is required by law in South Africa...
"The entire time the gunmen kept in touch with each other via their cellphones, said Frikkie.
"They were very aggressive and spoke in a mixture of English, Venda and Sotho.
"They kept telling my dad: "Old Man 'm Going To Shoot You,' said Frikkie's son Franna.
He had been out of town during the attack.
Meanwhile Pieter kept trying to reduce the men's aggression by trying to calm them down, saying things like 'we have more money, just bring back the old woman first'.
This had results: one black man made a call and brought Lettie back - and one man hit her so hard over the head with his gun that
she fell down on the bed. Alice also was hit over the head. "They had all the time in the world and must have been busy with us for at least half-an-hour.'
'They knew what they were doing and grabbed our wallets and jewellery in just one gesture,' noted Frikkie.
It seemed to last an eternity, the old Afrikaners told the Zoutpansberger.
"They tied us up on the floor, but Frikkie and Lettie were told to lie down on the bed.
"Then one gunman said loudly: 'let's kill them'. However one of the attackers 'showed more courtesy than the others, and I suspected he was the leader.'
He made it clear that nobody would be shot, ' said Franna.
The gunmen had grabbed the families' keys to their bakkies and were busy stealing them when two male clients of the nursery showed up unexpectedly.
"The sound of their voices outside apparently unnerved the gunmen and they fled on foot. The two clients walked to the house and knocked on the door.
Oom Frikkie was already busy cutting everybody loose and screamed that 'we'd just been robbed'.
Help was called at once and Lettie was taken for treatment of her eye-injury.
Franna said it became very clear that this attack-gang had been watching the nursery 'for a considerable length of time'.
"Of our workers told us afterwards that they recognised two of the guys. They'd been hanging around the nursery, apparently aimlessly walking around on Tuesday before the attack during lunch-time.'
"When one of the workers asked if they could help, they told her that they were just looking around and would buy something later'.
Only one of the gunmen had worn a mask and all wore gloves.
The families were so traumatised that they've decided to close the nursery at once.
"Criminals don't think about the consequences of their actions, and that this has caused job-losses for the workers'.
"We all know the precarious economic circumstnaces. We tried to keep the place going for our dad and mom and for the people who have already worked for us for the past 30 years.
Those people now are unemployed. People could say I was hasty to close it, but I don't want it on my conscience if something even worse happens next time'.
Frikkie and Lettie have run the nursery for 35 years - celebrating the event in December 2014.
"Now it's all over. Do you know how many clients have already told us to not close the nursery because they would be lost without our service? And now it's all over.
However a human life is worth a lot more than a nursery. Thank the dear Lord for being with us,' said Frikkie.
He also thanked all the customers who had supported them so faithfully over the years. "We hád to close, and that isn't 'lekker'... said Frikkie.
↧