Heather Hogan
Thieves stole R80 000 worth of computer equipment from the Mail & Guardian offices in Milparklast Friday.
At 2am a supervisor from private security company Guarding Assignments drove away from the M&G building after checking on the guard. As the guard, Boyette Nsingo, was closing the large metal gates, a white Toyota Venture sped through before he could stop it.
“There were two men sitting in the front of the car,” recalls Nsingo. “The white man said he worked on the premises. I argued with him because I knew he didn’t. He told me to keep quiet unless I wanted to die.”
The three men grabbed Nsingo from behind, gagged him and put a bag over his head. “They must have planned it,” he said. “They must have been waiting for the supervisor to leave.”
Nsingo said the men tied him up near the steps leading to the M&G’s first-floor offices. “I heard footsteps but I couldn’t see anything.”
The men used an acess key to enter the M&G offices, where they stole 17 computers and one monitor.
“When they were leaving, they tried to bully me. They even took my uniform. They fired a shot somewhere and told me to wake up next time. I was scared and humiliated,” Nsingo said.
When Nsingo didn’t check in with Guarding Assignments over the radio at the expected times, they sent a supervisor back to check on him. Nsingo was found where the robbers left him, cold, scared and tied up. The police were notified.
The police believe the robbery was a professional job. The matter is being investigated and security at the M&G has been upgraded.
The M&G thanks all the readers who offered support and condolences last week. The paper gives special thanks to Terry Sack and Anthony le Roux from Compucomp, Trevor Naidoo from Parkhill Computers and Judd Harcombe from The e-Mail Corporation, which had the M&G up and running within a day of the robbery.