Woman "Egg-stinguishes" Criminal Behaviour in Gqeberha, One Egg at a Time

Photo Credit: Monserrat Soldú via Pexels

Susan Viljoen cracked down on crime in her neighbourhood using a tray of eggs after a motivating pep-talk from a local security “eggspert”.

Gqeberha, South Africa (19 September 2024) – Susan Viljoen attended a talk in 2022 that stuck with her. It was about personal security and how to remain calm when face-to-face with a criminal. She has always kept that advise front of mind until recently, when she needed to use it. Susan came face to face with a potentially dangerous situation and she defused it, by throwing eggs at the perpetrator.

Yes, eggs! Susan had just finished grocery shopping and placed her eggs on the passenger seat foot-well of her car. As she came to an intersection, a suspicious person made her feel uncomfortable and fear started bubbling up. But she remained calm, calling on the advise she got in 2022.

Bernadette Nel-Naude, a security specialist in Gqeberha, had hosted the personal safety talk in 2022 that Susan attended. She recently met Susan again for Secretaries Day where Susan shared with her, just how she managed to brave the moment her own safety was at risk.

“According to her story, she was driving home from the shops when she stopped to drop off a friend. She saw an unidentified person on the side of the road visibly pointing at her, and she realised that something bad was about to happen.

“She remembered my advice about not panicking. Reaching over to her seat to grab her phone, she found a tray of eggs she had just purchased. The unknown suspect was visibly nervous, and the lady started to pelt him with eggs, which caused him to scramble and run away quickly. Talk about cracking under pressure,” says Nel-Naude.

Susan was relieved when the suspicious person ran off. She was able to then get home safely. But the egg-citing story doesn’t end here. Susan needed to replace the eggs she had used. So she set off for the shops again and ended up being caught in an armed robbery… Eggs in hand, she took her shots and scared of the criminals who were holding the shop up.

“The lady explained that she went to the shops to buy replacements for the eggs she used to scare off the first suspect. When she arrived at a nearby convenience store, she found herself in the middle of an armed robbery being committed. Again using my advice to always remain calm, she jumped into action again and egg-sactly like before, she pelted the armed robbers with eggs until they fled the scene. Clearly, these crooks were not egg-specting an egg-citing counterattack,” says Nel-Naude.

Bernadette was left in awe of Susan’s actions. However, she says they don’t encourage members of the public to get involved in crime fighting, and it is never a good idea to confront suspects, especially if they are armed.

“I am, however, happy to see that she remembered how important it is to remain calm whenever something like this happens to you.
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“Crime fighting is not always all it’s cracked up to be. But yolk-ing aside, we thank the residents of Gqeberha who work with us and the SAPS to keep our town safe. It’s teamwork that will ensure success, and it’s an egg-cellent way to keep the sunny side up. After all, no one wants to be caught with egg on their face!” says Nel-Naude.