Two garage burglaries within days of each other at a gated block of flats in Table View have some suspecting they were an inside job.
Early on Wednesday February 14, Nicolette Naylor’s Toyota Verso was stolen from her garage at Monte Blu, in Coral Street about 400 metres from Blouberg Beach. Kite-surfing gear and other belongings worth R150 000 were also taken, she says.
Just how the burglars entered the complex remains a mystery, but they managed to lift a motorised gate at the back of Monte Blu off its tracks to leave in the car, says Ms Naylor.
There are no security guards at the gates, but the complex has CCTV security cameras that are supposed to be monitored by the managing agent, Merville Property Administrators, and Complex Patrols, a security company, does random patrols, according to Ms Naylor.
However, the cameras had not been working for the past eight months, she said, adding that she had only discovered that after the police had asked for the footage.
“Someone had to let them in at some point because if anyone here gets a visitor, the visitor notifies the resident, and we have to open the gate using a remote control. This is the usual protocol.”
Ms Naylor, who works from home, discovered the burglary after finding the lock on the garage door had been cut. Her vehicle-tracking company told her the car had left the garage at 3.16am. Milnerton police found it abandoned later that morning in Theal Street, Tijgerhof, but everything down to the seat covers had been taken.
When Ms Naylor and her partner, Dr Janus Quine, saw their kite-surfing gear and other possessions on Facebook Marketplace, they posed as customers and notified the police, which led to the arrest of a man and a woman in Gardens on Sunday February 18 and the recovery of wetsuits and gear. This was confirmed by Table View police spokeswoman Captain Adriana Chandler.
“I had to change the locks of my home because there was an extra set of keys in the car. I haven’t slept for days, and I still feel as if I am being watched. You think you’re safe living in a gated community, but it doesn’t seem to be the case here. Ever since this incident, I have been on high alert and sadly find myself distrusting people,” Ms Naylor said.
She praised Milnerton police officers Sergeant Nicol van der Burgh, Sergeant Elton Petersen, Sergeant Juanita Matthews and Warrant Officer Jerome Michaels for helping to recover her car and for their handling of the case. Table View police detectives had also been very helpful, she added.
“I have a renewed respect for police officers, especially those doing a good job under extremely difficult circumstances.”
Dr Quine, who works in the UK, also thanked the police and said the recovery of the wetsuits and kite-surfing equipment was like “finding treasure” because it was custom-made for him.
He said he believed the burglary was an “inside job” as another garage at the complex had been burgled just days earlier, on Saturday February 10.
Police have no records of an earlier burglary, but Silvia de Villiers, who is in charge of maintenance at the complex, said she was aware of burglaries on both Saturday February 10 and Wednesday February 14, and she urged residents to be vigilant and keep doors locked at all times despite it being a gated complex.
The managing agents were working on fixing the cameras and “installing a booster” for the cameras to work during power outages, she added.
Tabletalk contacted Merville Property Administrators portfolio manager Herman Herbst last Friday for comment, but he said he would need to get “sign off” from the trustees on Tuesday morning before he could answer our questions. We did not get a response from him by deadline.
Complex Patrols director Barry Whittaker said they were contracted to do one day and one night patrol, at random times, at the complex daily. The night patrol on Wednesday February 14 had been done at 9.36pm, he said.
