A Pietermaritzburg great-grandfather was stabbed to death for his 'outdated' cellphone during a robbery in the early hours of Saturday morning, at his Ginger Road, Northdale, home – where he had lived for more than 40 years.
Shortly after hearing the news, another elderly resident, also living on Ginger Road, suffered a heart attack.
Local councillor, Rachel Soobiah, said many elderly residents lived in the area and were becoming soft targets for criminals.
She said petty crime was on the increase with criminals going after things like copper pipes.
“However, these criminals do not hesitate to attack. We are noticing that many of the petty crime incidents are turning violent. Our elderly residents are living in fear,” said Soobiah.
She added that the woman who had suffered a heart-attack was recovering in hospital.
Rajendra Chetty, 72, a supervisor at an import and export company, was stabbed multiple times in his back and sustained an injury to his head. His funeral took place at the Cato Ridge Crematorium on Tuesday.
His granddaughter, Desiree, said Chetty had been living alone since the death of his wife, Pat, four years ago.
"My grandfather loved his independence. He did not want to live with any family. We respected this because it made him happy. I live across the road from him and so does my parents,” said Desiree.
She said she last saw her grandfather on Friday evening.
"I had sent him a WhatsApp message telling him how hot it was. He asked me to come over with my kids. He had balloons for them. We laughed and spoke at length. I left to go home as soon as it started getting dark.”
Desiree said she planned to go back to her grandfather’s house when her husband returned from work.
“I noticed the lights were off in his house and assumed he was sleeping. We decided not to disturb him. However, at 3.30am I was awoken by my frantic parents’ call.
“They just said something had happened to my grandfather. My husband and I jumped out of bed and ran to his house. We saw two unknown people running from the house. We could not see their faces because it was dark,” said Desiree.
She said her husband went into the house and she heard him shout ‘oh my God!’
“He told me to call an ambulance. My grandfather was lying in a pool of blood in the lounge,” she added.
"He was stabbed about five times on his back and had a head injury. His breathing was faint.”
She said it appeared that one of the intruders tried to get into the home through a side door.
“When he failed, he went to the front door and managed to bend the front gate. The door was then broken open. It must have been the sound of the door breaking that woke my grandfather up,” said Desiree.
She added that there appeared to have been an altercation between the intruder and her grandfather.
“Neighbours said they heard the commotion and when they went outside, they saw the intruder run out of my grandfather’s yard holding his arm. They said seconds later his two accomplices arrived at the home and that was when they attacked my grandfather."
She said the neighbour, who saw the suspects, telephoned her father.
Desiree said the only thing stolen from her grandfather’s home was his cellphone.
"This was such a brutal and senseless crime. I cannot believe he was killed for his outdated cellphone. It is an old phone that only had WhatsApp. My family is traumatised …”
She said her grandfather was a humble and kind man, who lived in the community for more than 40 years.
She said residents, particularly the elderly, were living in fear and did not even come out of their homes during the day.
One resident, who did not want to be named, said he had lived on Ginger Road for 30 years.
“Since this incident, we cannot even sleep. At night, we have all the lights on. Last month alone, there were three house break-ins in this area.”
Another resident said that they hoped to work with police to create a safer community.
"We are having a problem with petty crime and it could lead to more serious crimes like we see in the case of Mr Chetty. He was a good man and did not deserve to be killed. We are all on edge because of this incident."
Sham Govender, the chairman of the Pietermaritzburg Community Policing Forum (CPF), said: "During the festive period residents must be vigilant because crime is on the rise. The crimes are becoming more violent and we need residents to work with the police and the CPF to come up with ways to combat it."
Shaheen Suleiman, the owner of Magma Security, said serious crimes like murder and major robberies have decreased in Pietermaritzburg but they were seeing an increase in petty crime.
"Criminals are going after copper pipes and garden tools because they are easy to sell. We advise residents to work with police and security companies to combat these crimes by reporting suspicious activity. We need active participation from the community. We would rather have a proactive approach than a reactive one," said Suleiman.
Police spokesperson, Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said a case of murder and house robbery was being investigated.