A Johannesburg mother is singing the praises of two Security guards who rescued her and her 4-old-son from the floods in Jet Park yesterday afternoon when no-one else would come to their aid.
Jolita de Beer and her son Adyn were on their way from Kempton Park on the R21 to Jet Park to fetch her husband at about 5:30pm when their vehicle got stuck in water in Kelly Road. The water was so deep that it reached her car door handles.
She said her son was shouting in the back of the car, saying “we are going to drown, we are going to die”.
Seeing a truck stopped about 500 metres in front of her and unable to drive further, De Beer started to reverse to higher ground, but could eventually not go any further. Realising they had no-where to go, she got out of her car, picked up her son, and started to walk in the torrential rain, looking for help.
But as it turns out, help found them in the form of Enforce Security guards Ronny Rasebetsa and Eric Simanga.
“I was walking through the water, stumbling and falling, but trying to keep my son dry. There were many people around in the nearby businesses but no-one helped us. They were just looking at us obviously not wanting to come out into the water.”
“Suddenly we saw a gate open and two security guards came out to fetch us. They took us into their guarding hut to get out of the water and rain, and helped us dry off. They even put the heater on for us to warm up.”
“My son was obviously scared but they worked to calm him down. They put the TV on for him and talked and played with him, and in about 10 minutes he was calm again.”
The guards’ shift eventually ended but they refused to leave their hut, opting rather to stay with De Beer and Adyn until they could leave.
Eventually, just before 7pm, the rain stopped and De Beer felt it was safe to go out again. By this time too, the water had drained away and she was able to get to her car and drive away.
“They even waited and watched us to our car, making sure that we got there safely. At that time my husband had managed to get a lift to us with his colleague, and we were able to go home.”
“I cannot even begin to explain how much those two men helped us. They saved us. And to my son, they are literally heroes.”
“He calls them his heroes.”
“All I want to do is let them know how grateful we are, and how much we appreciate and value them. I am still so emotional about it all, but so thankful for them. You can see they are so proud of their jobs and what they do.”
Responding on behalf of the guards, Rasebetsa said he and Simanga had noticed how De Beer and her son were struggling in the water and so thought nothing to immediately open up for them to dry off and warm up.
“It was our pleasure,” he said.
Enforce Managing Director Derek Lategan says he is “overwhelmed with pride” at the actions of Rasebetsa and Simanga, not only for assisting De Beer and her son, but for going so far out of their way to do so.
“We often receive words of praise from people about our guards and reaction officers who, generally, go above and beyond to help members of the public. But this story is particularly heart-warming.”
These men have not only done Enforce Security proud, but have hugely impacted the lives of a mother and child, and in doing so, stood as beacons of light and hope in an often-cruel world.
“We thank both Ronny and Eric for going out their way to not only be exceptional ambassadors for Enforce Security but for human kind.”Lategan said the guards would be rewarded by the company for their ‘heroic’ efforts.”
by 