I'm very glad to hear you were all reasonably OK after the incident!

You were very brave to face them in the manner you did! I think the police and most citizens would recommend following the guidelines taught in "How to be a victim in SA 101" and just given the crooks everything they demanded without any resistance and avoiding all eye contact.

However, this assumes criminals have attended the "How to be a criminal in SA 101" course, and know what is expected of them. Too often I've heard of people being assaulted even though they didn't put up a fight, and there's definitely a case of unnecessary and excessive violence in many crimes in South Africa. If a crook points a gun at someone and gets annoyed that they start screaming, what the hell did he expect?

To give those living outside of South Africa a bit of insight into life over here:

We're taught to always be vigilent and constantly be aware of our surroundings. But as Barefoot_Monkey has indicated, even when one thinks one is being extra careful, sometimes it still isn't enough.

We live in barricaded homes to protect us from crime. In essence we live in jails and the criminals are free to roam outside.

We report crimes to the police, but the purpose of this is really just to obtain a case number for insurance claims. We don't expect the police to take interest in a case unless there was loss of life. The last time I accompanied someone to a police station after they had been mugged and assaulted, the cop taking the statement seemed rather bored. It made me wish I was Charles Bronson.

I believe the gun laws are very strict here... at least for honest citizens. Crooks don't seem to have any difficulties using guns in any way they see fit. However, I don't have a gun and I don't know very many people who have used a gun successfully to prevent a crime. I do know many instances where people who own guns have been killed by criminals (possibly because the criminals knew they had a gun), or have used them to commit suicide, or have used them to shoot members of their own families in domestic violence.

Notwithstanding everything I have just said above, South Africa has great potential and all of its citizens will benefit if we can get a handle on the crime and corruption. Most of our citizens just want to get on with leading a decent life. There is just a small element of scumbags holding us all to ransom.

I wish I had the gravity gun from HL2 for protection, or the force gun from Dead Space, or that gun that shoots through walls from Red Faction :P

Not where I grew up - which was a tiny village where everyone knew everybody else. In fact, "throw away the keys" would have been a strange advice to teach me when I was a kid, because people often left windows open and front doors unlocked anyway, so _if_ there had been burglars, they could have just walked in anyway, no matter what we'd do with the keys. People also habitually placed spare keys under doormats in case they lost theirs.

However, I don't remember a single burglary from all the time when I lived there. It probably would have been the village gossip for years.

My father took over bank duties for a couple of years (the village was too small to have a real bank, so one of us used to take over bank duties in his spare time). The security measures consisted of a regular roller shutter and a closed window. The money was kept in a coffer. Robbing the bank would have been as easy as walking up to our house (no fences or gates), lifting the shutter at the ground floor (no lock), smashing the window (regular glass, no alarm systems), taking the coffer (not chained to anything), and running away. But no one ever did, it was pretty much unthinkable.

It may sound like stories from a different world, or a different time - but it might explain why I was indeed never taught to throw away keys.


Well, I don't have a phone or "satnav" (is that that car navigation thing? I don't have a car.). I almost never have any money in my wallet, I wear old and worn-down clothes in my spare time since I never cared about looks, I live in an area where people generally own very little, and there is practically nothing in my apartment that's worth stealing. Of course it _could_ happen, and we're a bit more careful here than we were in the village where I grew up, meaning we actually lock doors and windows when we leave, but anybody stupid enough to pick me as a target for a robbery might also be too stupid to actually pull it off ...

Nevertheless, being prepared doesn't hurt, of course - therefore my question. I didn't understand, but wanted to.

Thank you for all the support. I don't know why, but I felt the need to write about it and came here to do so because... well... I'm rather fond of you guys.

This happened shortly before 7pm. The police arrived just a few minutes after being called; they handled the situation well, but I don't think they'll be able to catch them this time. We're getting a supply of pepper spray and installing a gate motor.

From Johannesburg. I live in what is normally a safe neighbourhood, but it's been targeted a lot by robbers lately. This is my first experience of being attacked - it's certainly not an everyday occurance, but you do hear stories and learn to be vigilant.


So true. You know, right after making this thread I thought "Oh no - I'm completely misusing that word! I should have said that I was attacked by robbers. Maybe I can get Judas to rename the thread." Then I realised it didn't really matter and decided it was time to go to sleep :)


[hugback] Thank you

Glad you are okay. I don't really know what else to say. I am also really impressed with you.

Wow, just, wow...

I am glad you and your family are all right. You and your father are awesome!

I agree with everyone here, glad you and your family weren't hurt.

I'm glad things turned out ok. Have you considered moving somewhere with better security?

Damn, man! Glad everyone is ok.

Usually when someone gets robbed they come home long after the robbers have ransacked their home (at least that's the proper way of getting robbed).

holy crap man, glad nothing critical happened, you are a hero dude

That's terrible! I just hope that the robbers don't hold any grudge towards you and leave it be.
Take care!

Holy crap. I thought there was going to be a twist that you were talking about a game or something. I was having some trouble picturing the events and then—when you jumped on your roof—my mind version of you had super powers (as if the version who stood up to guns wasn't badass enough.) I'm relieved you and your family are unharmed. And thanks for sharing.

I'm very glad you and your family are alive. I probably would just have been killed not being a quick thinker under stress.

Hope this never happens again.

Glad to hear it! My sister-in-law's family are from the Johannesburg area. We only passed through Jo'burg a few times - flew in and out of there, etc. Took an interesting wrong turn getting on the main road though, and instead of heading East towards the Kruger we went West and passed through Soweto. That was an eye-opener.