Champion of the Month with Hirsch Fourways
Mhlanga was alone at the house in Gallo Manor soon after midday.
She said, "I was hanging up the washing outside and I saw somebody in the guest room. I realised that the baby was in the sitting room playing." The suspect had gained entry through the kitchen door which had been open. Mhlanga quietly entered the house, passed the bedrooms where the suspect was, and into the sitting room. She picked up the child and carried him outside.
The burglar had already taken her cellphone and keys so she was unable to phone for help or leave the premises. She went to the front gate of the house where she was able to attract the attention of a woman passing by who then called security. Mhlanga said a patrol car soon arrived and four ADT guards surrounded the house after escorting her and the child away from the property. Seeing the guards outside, the suspect climbed into the ceiling to hide.
Resident and Mhlanga's employer, Helois Nel said, "He packed a whole lot of stuff into bags but left most of it in the bedroom. He took small valuable things such as jewellery and watches with him into the roof."
Nel said the police then arrived and they began to search for the suspect in the ceiling. She said, "One of the officers had a bright idea to call Mhlanga's cellphone. When it rang, the officers quickly located the burglar and he was arrested."
Mhlanga regularly attends Penny Steyn's Making a Difference (Mad) domestic watch meetings where she said she has learnt some valuable lessons. "I was so scared but I didn't scream, they taught me not to. If there are tsotsis in the house you don't scream because they will shoot you. I thank Penny for teaching me that."
Nel added, "As a mother, I'm eternally grateful that she got my baby son out of potential danger."