[imagesource: Timothy Bernard / African News Agency (ANA)]

You can’t blame residents of Jozi’s upmarket northern suburbs for being fearful of an arsonist on the loose.

At first, there were whispers and social media posts detailing various homes burning to the ground in Hyde Park, Dunkeld, and Illovo.

That caused a number of other victims to come forward and the arsonist struck again on April 7 in lower Houghton, with residents describing the assailant as a “total nutter”.

Known to raid fridges and leave his mark by sometimes defecating in the home, which has reportedly been captured on CCTV cameras, his latest attack occurred in Oaklands on Sunday night.

Here’s TimesLIVE:

After attempting to set fire to curtains in a home on Sunday night, only to be scared away by the homeowner, he struck again three houses down, this time locking a couple in their burning house with their own keys…

Lee-Anne Schloss, a neighbour to the home set on fire and witness to what transpired, said it was generally believed the arsonist was prowling the suburb before striking. Footage of him strolling across a garden in the early hours has been shared with TimesLIVE.

Security cameras at Schloss’ home captured this image:

An arson report states that the suspect is “an African male believed to be in his 30s, of average height, with a normal-size build” who moves on foot and usually strikes either late at night or early in the morning.

Schloss says the man set off the alarm in her backyard, with security at her home having been beefed up in the wake of the arson incidents.

He then moved on to her neighbour’s home:

“He strolled around the ground floor, ate strawberries and helped himself to cash,” Schloss said.

“Then he set fire to a room downstairs and left through the front door, locking the couple in their house with their own keys.”

…Schloss said the couple woke with their house on fire and screamed for help. They hit panic buttons and security immediately responded.

“The wiring for the gate was melted so we had to force it open. Luckily we managed to help them get out. We tried to extinguish the fire and that’s when we saw he had cut the hosepipe and had removed the tap connector,” said Schloss.

That is genuinely terrifying.

Residents have been advised to ensure their home security systems are in working order. They’re also encouraged to invest in fire safety equipment.

The general consensus is that this is all the work of one man. Josh Nel, branch manager for Fidelity, originally disagreed.

He spoke with IOL earlier this week:

Nel says there are two distinct modus operandi. The first is someone who breaks in and spends a lot of time in the house, often as long as seven hours at a stretch. He helps himself to the fridge, urinates in dustbins and sometimes even cooks. The man rarely steals anything of value. Early CCTV footage even reveals him wearing a pair of headphones…

The second MO is of a suspect who preys on the elderly, assaulting them and telling them they are going to die, just before he locks them in and sets the room on fire.

However, a recent victim has identified an earlier image of the man when he was caught on CCTV while in a kitchen.

It appears the arsonist is growing more unhinged as his spree continues.

Wahl Bartmann, CEO of Fidelity, is running a tip-off line at 083 939 0300. There is a R100 000 reward on offer for information that leads to a successful arrest.

Security company CAP has also asked anybody who sees suspicious activity to alert them on 0861 227 227.

[sources:timeslive&iol]