Colville - “He is my son but I fear him to death. I have left my job and stopped leaving the house out of shame and fear that he will follow me to embarrass me in public.”
That was the cry for help from a Colville mother on Sunday, who was pleading to be saved from her 25-year-old drug-addicted son, who she says is terrorising her.
The troubled mother is living in fear and has called on the authorities to help save her family from her son, who has warned them to sleep with one eye open.
The 47-year-old mother does not know what to do any more as she has lost faith in the police, who she had called to rescue the family before her son set part of her house on fire on Saturday. The police only arrived the following morning after the house was already damaged.
According to her, her son, who is a drug addict, has been in jail twice - for attempted murder and assault - but refuses to be rehabilitated.
“Please get my son arrested. I have had enough,” she cried. “He is violent, a thief, an addict and aggressive to an extent that no one in the community wants to go close to him once he starts acting up.”.
The concerned mother revealed that on Saturday her son arrived home and “lost it” after he was confronted about apparently stealing a kettle and selling it.
The mother of five said she and her other son, who is 21 years old, confronted him and he became violent.
“He cornered his younger brother, with two knives in his hand, and we had to risk our lives to stop him from stabbing his younger brother. Thereafter he set the caravan, which we had prepared for him to sleep in, on fire; before threatening us again and then leaving.”
The mother said that she had a protection order against her son but it has expired.
The mother explained that her son was referred to rehab by social workers about three years ago, but apparently only stayed clean for two months before doing drugs again.
She added that she is even afraid of leaving her house or yard for fear that her son will come home and break down the doors and steal from the family, or confront her in public and demand food and money.
“He swears at me like I am nothing, resulting in people just standing and staring.”
“The police already know him and call him ‘Boertjie’.
“On Saturday, the Fire Brigade came to extinguish the fire, the ambulance came to see whether there were any injuries, but the police did not come and continued to tell me that the van is nearby. That is how he always survives, through police negligence,” cried the mother.
She added that she has been receiving treatment for depression for years, after she lost her unborn child due to stress eight years ago.
The mother claimed that her son is feared to such an extent that he robbed a police officer of a can of pepper spray a few weeks ago and then used it to attack another community member and nothing was done about it.
According to her, her son looks very quiet and calm but can change at any minute.
“He is so pompous that he steals wherever he goes and not only inside our house. That is why I prepared the outside caravan for him to sleep in, so that we can have peace of mind.
“He is only allowed to come into the house to fetch food, as we do not have a choice but to provide for him. But he still continues to break the doors whenever he finds them locked so that he can take whatever he wants and we are not supposed to say anything.”