Publications
Partners
Rustenburg - A lapdog became a North West family's “klein heldjie” (little hero) after possibly saving their lives during an attack by robbers on a smallholding near Rustenburg.
"If it was not for that dog, I may possibly not be here today,” Zach Scheepers, 30, told Netwerk24 on Tuesday.
Scheepers said he was awoken on the family’s smallholding in the Kroondal area near Rustenburg after hearing 2-year-old Molly, a long-hair chihuahua, barking uncontrollably at around 01:00.
An armed man had been standing in their bedroom doorway with a flashlight, and a 9mm pistol was pointed at Scheepers. The attacker switched off the torch and kicked Molly.
“Thula wena” (keep quiet), the attacker said.
The chihuahua grabbed the attacker by the trouser leg as she was kicked.
He tried to break away and fired a shot at the couple.
The bullet hit Zach’s wife Brigette in the right leg and exited through her thigh.
'Sixth World War'
The brief moment gave Zach the chance to grab his own 9mm pistol from his nightstand and fire back at the attacker.
The attacker fled but continued shooting. Zach likened the scene to a “sixth world war” after the first shot rang out.
Four other attackers also opened fire on their double-storey wooden house.
Zach then went down the passage to where his children Zané, 8, and Johan, 7, were and took them to the master bedroom, where they called family, friends and the police.
The home’s alarm also went off as the attackers fled over the property’s fencing.
Zach said he struggled to believe that their dog, which was “always running away”, had saved them.
‘I would not be here’
“She’ll be getting big steaks tonight, if only the power would come on.”
Two of the bullets fired by one of the four attackers had gone through the house’s wooden walls, and had just missed Zané.
"The Lord must have been here," Zach added.
The keys to their vehicles, a set of house keys, a laptop, a handbag, a cell phone and cellphone chargers were taken.
The family has been living on the property for about a year, and it was their first incident of crime there.
Brigette, 30, received treatment for her wounds and has returned home.
Police are investigating a case of house robbery.
- Read the full story at Netwerk24 here.
