Stuff to know about

I can't tell you how many e-mails I've received about how to handle an attack or an armed robber. I've read each one, and retained the information.

A bad thing happened last week. At a reasonable hour on a weeknight in a safe suburb, robbers with guns followed me into a remote gate, took my keys and let themselves into my parents' home in Pretoria where they forced us all to lie down facing the floor as they robbed the house of everything valuable sparing only our lives.

What saved our lives? Certainly not those e-mails. Those e-mails tell you to run because a gun has a 1 in 400 chance of hitting a moving target. They tell you to throw your handbag and run away because that's all they're after anyway. Following that kind of advice is not what kept my family alive. We are alive because we did as we were told, and did not do anything to disrupt their 'jobs' as armed robbers.

Had I thrown my handbag and started running, the other two armed men at the gate might have shot me anyway. They are smarter than that. Within seconds of seeing two men with guns, there was a car in the driveway with the other two robbers inside. Don't take chances.

Here is what I will tell you based on our experience, and information I received from people in the police force (armed house robberies specifically):

• Don't look at the criminals. That is ONE thing every e-mail tells you and certainly, that is true.
• Make no noise and do as you are told. Answer all questions. Professional robbers want to get what they came for and get out as quickly as possible before they are noticed. Nervous amateurs are unpredictable if somebody does something unexpected, which is just as dangerous.
  
• Guns are loaded, and people are often harmed when they do not co-operate with requests. The gunmen will use force or shoot, and you should be afraid. Professional guys aren't using fake guns.
  
• Frequently they will ask a child or a woman to accompany them somewhere in the house. The detective I spoke to said this is usually because a woman/child cannot defend themselves. Most of the time, they want someone to help them find valuables quickly. If you are asked, go with them. If they want to harm you, they're going to do that whether or not you go with them. If you don't do as they say, they could harm you anyway.
• The chances of them returning to the same home are slim. Usually when this happens it is an inside job by angry staff who have information about your home and its contents.
• If they take a vehicle, they will probably ask if there is a tracker. In this case, they will use the car as an escape vehicle and leave it somewhere. "Nice" robbers will even tell you where you'll find the car. "Nice" robbers might also let you keep your sim cards, ID documents or bank cards. They know it won't be of any use to them, and they'll leave them behind.
• Often there are things you can do to prevent being a victim. You can look around before you enter a gate at night. You can check your rear view mirrors to ensure you aren't being followed. Sometimes they're just that good and there isn't anything you could have done differently. Our robbers weren't visible to me when I entered the gate, nor when I turned around to hit the button to close it. They were hiding and appeared to me when I thought all my bases were covered.
  

I am grateful that my family and I were not harmed. I am thankful for the support of family, friends, colleagues and clients. I am amazed at how incredibly supportive the members of the neighbourhood community continue to be. Within minutes of the robbers leaving, we were surrounded by helpful neighbours and members of the community police forum. After such a dreadful event it was comforting to see the number of people willing to help.

South Africans continue to stand together reminding me why I am proud to be a South African.