A botched business robbery in Makhado (Louis Trichardt) ended in tragedy with the death of a security guard from Gwala Security.

At around 23:30 on Saturday, 8 September, a group of six suspects overpowered the 34-year-old Mr Prince Mbedzi while he was on duty as a guard at Eden Oil in Klein Street. His attackers gained access to the premises by cutting the security fence.

After overpowering him, the six men severely beat Mr Mbedzi, apparently with a steel chair. They tied his legs with a piece of wire and demanded money. The group of robbers proceeded to try and break into the business, but triggered an outside alarm and fled the scene immediately. Bleeding profusely, Mr Mbedzi managed to free himself and stumbled back to Gwala’s guard quarters next to the railway station in Kruger Street.

In the meantime, alerted by the triggered alarm, the armed response team from DRS Security arrived at the scene, only to discover a pool of blood and a bloodied steel chair. They immediately alerted the police and Gwala Security’s supervisor on duty.

The supervisor drove to the guard quarters, where he found the badly injured Mr Mbedzi and rushed him to the Louis Trichardt Memorial Hospital at around half past midnight on Sunday morning.

Returning to check on Mr Mbedzi’s condition at around 03:00, the supervisor was shocked to see how badly Mr Mbedzi’s condition had deteriorated, especially after he was able to walk into the hospital himself just an hour and a half before. He was drifting in and out of consciousness, had difficulty breathing, vomited and struggled to talk. At around 07:30 that morning, news came that Mr Mbedzi had passed away at 05:00.

Hailing from Tshaulu in the Mutale district, Mr Mbedzi had been working for the security company since March 2009. He was described by colleagues as “a good man and a hard worker”. Although this savage attack occurred in a crime-ridden area, some believe it signifies the beginning of an escalation in business robberies and housebreakings.

“We normally see an increase in these types of crimes in the period leading up to the December holiday season,” said Gwala Security’s Mr Nico Esterhuizen.

On Tuesday, Makhado police spokesperson Capt Maano Sadike said that they were investigating a case of murder, as well as attempted robbery and malicious damage to property.