Matabeleland Tractor Services robbed

Dumani Moyo Sunday News Reporter
MATABELELAND Tractor Services company which operates in Belmont industries in Bulawayo early yesterday lost more than $10 000 and documents when thieves broke in and escaped with the safe.According to Mr Peter Staak, who is the owner of the company, the thieves cut the chains that had locked the gate and vandalised several doors in order to get to where the money was.

“I came here around 6 am in the morning to collect the money, I was surprised to see the gates unlocked and the doors vandalised. The door to the room where the safe is kept was on the ground and my safe box with more than $10 000 was nowhere to be found. We also lost some personal documents like national identity cards, driver’s licences, passports and banking documents belonging to me, my brother and son. We cannot survive without those documents and we need them back,” said Mr Staak.

He added that the thieves might have been aware of the set-up of the company premises.

“At the moment we are not suspecting anyone but I assume that people who entered the premises knew the arrangements of the property that was stolen. I am saying so because there is one door that was not forced open which means they knew how to open it from behind. They also knew where my workshop is because they stole my trolley to carry the safe box because it was too heavy,” he said.

When Sunday News arrived at the premises, police were conducting some forensic investigations as they sought leads to apprehend the thieves.

Mr Staak’s son, Paul, said it was unfortunate that the security guard failed to notice the entry of the thieves.

“I wonder how this happened without the security guard noticing, this is a very unfortunate incident. I lost my stuff which I had stored yesterday (Friday) including an IPad valued at more than $400 and my personal documents,” he said.

In an interview, the security guard Mr Justin Ngwenya said he didn’t hear anything when the thieves pounced on the premises and got away with the cash.

“I did not hear anything, this might have happened very fast while I was inside my house which is a few metres away,” said Mr Ngwenya.

Efforts to get a comment from the police spokesman Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo were fruitless by the time of going to print.