Wonderboom man shot by cable thieves

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Pretoria - Wonderboom South resident Francois Lubbe said he was nearly paralysed when he was shot in the back in his driveway by cable thieves. Lubbe found himself in the crosshairs of cable thieves after he was woken up by his wife to inspect a loud bang outside his home. He told the Pretoria News his wife heard a bang and saw lights flash and a cable falling on the ground and went out to see what was going on. “As I walked out of the front door, I remember telling my wife and son to go back inside. As I turned around I heard a gunshot and I fell to the ground. “I couldn’t get up, then my wife called the police and an ambulance immediately. After they arrived and took me, I passed out and cannot remember anything after that.”

Following the incident, Lubbe said he went for X-rays and was told that removing the bullet was too risky as it was lodged really close to his spinal cord, and extraction could result in him becoming paralysed.

Lubbe said the incident had affected him severely and he was having difficulty processing it. “I am not a guy that’s finicky and always complaining, but this incident has made me scared I am scared to go outside at night; I get nightmares.

“At 3am I am up and tossing and turning. It has not been easy to deal with. I am not feeling safe and worry about my wife and 5-year-old son’s safety.”

Besides the shooting, Lubbe’s house has been burgled three times in the past.

In a bid to increase safety, three weeks before the shooting, he installed a surveillance system and additional fencing.

“I have also had my cellphone stolen through the window using our swimming pool pole, so one cannot really feel safe, this made it worse. It is coming to a point where we must take our own steps to protect ourselves as we are in danger.”

He said he was going for counselling to assist him with the trauma and shock of the whole incident.

“The whole thing is scary. I cannot stomach the idea that I was shot and I have a bullet so near to my spine, I am lucky that it did not hit my spine. God's hand was over me.”

He said his wife was fine, but it was now also hitting her hard and she was also traumatised by the whole incident and still experiencing shock.

“My son nearly ran out with me, but I told him to wait Looking at where I was hit and his height they would have hit him in the head,” said Lubbe.

Meanwhile, the police are investigating the incident and following Lubbe’s shooting, the cables in the area were changed from copper to aluminium to deter thieves from the area.

Cable theft has been a headache for the metro as criminals target residences among others for the overhead lines.

A source working in the City of Tshwane electricity department said thefts of overhead cables took place very fast. “They can scale up a pole, cut the cable, round it up and put it on their vehicle in two or three minutes. We have daily incidents of overhead line theft all over Tshwane, no area is exempt Even during the day now.”

Pretoria News