/ 8 August 2008

Bridget Oppenheimer robbed at knifepoint

Bridget Oppenheimer, the mother of De Beers Consolidated Mines chairperson Nicky Oppenheimer, was held up at knifepoint and robbed in her Durban home, police confirmed on Thursday night.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Jay Naicker confirmed that the robbery at the Milkwood Lodge residence in Durban’s plush Umhlanga suburb took place on Wednesday night.

He said that two men, one of whom was armed with a knife, managed to get past a security guard and the caretaker and break into the house.

There they confronted Bridget Oppenheimer — the widow of diamond magnate Harry Oppenheimer — and demanded cash and jewellery.

They apparently fled with the jewellery and cash as well as a television set.

Bridget Oppenheimer was not physically harmed during the attack.

Naicker said the case had been handed over to the provincial house-robbery task team.

Several high profile citizens of the province have been victims of robbery during the past few years, including KwaZulu-Natal premier Sbu Ndebele and the provincial security and safety minister Bheki Cele.

They both owned homes in nearby Durban North which were robbed in the past year. – Sapa