A 51-year-old woman was shot and kidnapped and her domestic worker and three children tied up and dumped in the bushes during an armed house robbery in Hartbeespoort on Monday night.

The smallholding where the two women and children were attacked.

The wounded woman was found lying on a dirt road at Rietfontein smallholdings the following morning after the robbers had demanded a ransom from her family for her release.
The domestic worker (59) and children, aged 20, 14 and 5, spent the night tied up in the bushes until the son managed to chew through the ropes around her wrists early on Tuesday morning.
Two armed robbers attacked the women and children around 22:30 on Monday on a smallholding in Rietfontein. They broke open the door to the domestic worker’s room with a crowbar, held her and the children at gunpoint and told them to be quiet or be killed.
“They tied up my children and told me they wanted my boss and money. They told me to call her and when I didn’t, they hit me,” the traumatised woman told Kormorant on Tuesday morning.
The domestic worker and the children were forced to the employer’s house where the robbers fired several shots at a Great Dane dog outside, missing him. They then shot and wounded the victim through a window of the house. They broke open the door and were met by another Great Dane that they shot and killed.
“They shot her dog when he tried to protect her. She screamed for me to help her as they were going to kill her, but I couldn’t. I was tied up and the robber pointed a gun at me, the domestic worker said.
“The men forced us into the house and told us to keep quiet. I could see blood on my employer’s leg. They wanted cellphones, money and bank cards. They then took us all outside and made us walk far into the bushes. They told me and the children to lie down and tied us up again. They said they were taking my employer. She was barefoot and I asked them if she could take my sandals. They took it and gave it to her.”
The wounded victim was taken further into the bushes where the robbers forced her to contact her family to pay a ransom for her release. After payment was made, the victim was released. She managed to walk to a farm road where she collapsed. A member of the Hercules Community Policing Forum found her lying on the side of the road early the next morning.
The domestic worker and the three children spent the night in the bushes. “My children, even the five-year-old were tied up with wire. I was tied with rope and my son managed to chew through it.”
A neighbour saw the domestic worker and the children at 06:30 and called PWV Security. “I called the police and quickly checked the house, as we suspected the owner might be wounded inside. There was no one, and we waited for the police,” said Clive Fisher of PWV Security.
Aequitas Security officers and Afrique du Sud’s K9 team were also on the scene soon after.
Police spokesperson Constable Ben Moabi confirmed that police were investigating cases of house robbery, attempted murder, kidnapping and extortion.
“Anyone with information that can assist the police to catch the suspects is requested to contact Detective Lt Colonel David Molefe on 082 4923 994,” he said.