South Africa is a dangerous place

[Michael N Q8]

Hey

I want to share the worst two hours I have had in my life so far...

I went to South Africa a few weeks ago for my eldest sons 21st birthday. Anyway, as I live in Korea and Kuwait I did not have a place to stay.

After the party I went to my folks place to sleep over. I had all my precious possessions with me, including my ss daytona and my Breitling aerospace and other watches, laptops, iPad, iphone, clothes etc etc. I put the bag next to my bed for peace of mind as I am aware of the situation there.

Well 3am that morning three thugs broke in, woke me up with a 9mm in my face. Beat me around a bit and tied me up. They took me to my folks room and I saw every guys worst nightmare. These animals had assaulted my 80 year old father and had tied him and my mother up. My sister was also there and tied up. So, they tied my legs too and then proceeded to raid the house.

They took money, tv's, all my possessions with the exception of my rolex daytona which was on my arm and the dumb idiots hid when they tied me up.

They stayed in the house for nearly two hours and kept threatening to kill us. They took all the loot and the car I was in as well, which was used by my son but was technically my car.

I guess we are lucky to be alive but then the amount of inconvenience to get new cards/passport/id/licence etc and also to prove the ownership for insurance is just staggering.

Also, just the day before I found a really nice Seadweller for sale and nearly bought it...It would have been taken too...

That Breitling was very precious to me. I don't want a payout, I just want my watch back :(

If a watch is going cheap, without papers just think that the guy who owned it maybe went through what we did for some lowlife to make a bit of money.

Crime is everywhere but the way it is done in SA is just appalling. :( it's like the dark ages there.

Michael

[Dr. Robert]

wow.....glad you're o.k., how's your father?

[hdrazor251]

Originally Posted by Dr. Robert

wow.....glad you're o.k., how's your father?

x2.

It could have been much worse with women in the house. Hope they are all OK.

[kcmo]

Originally Posted by hdrazor251

x2.

It could have been much worse with women in the house. Hope they are all OK.

So true!

[STEELINOX]

Man. Hope everyone's okay...

[toph]

unreal, so sorry to hear all of that! unbelievable. glad you are all alive

[kcmo]

OMG, I am so so sorry to hear about this horrifying ordeal!

I am from South Africa (have lived in the states since the mid-80s and am a US citizen) and hear stories like this all too often. It's terrible what has become of such a beautiful country. Crime is rampant and there is no police force and essentially no law. Absolutely crazy. What city did this occur in?

[Pep04]

WOW!!! I'm sorry to hear of your ordeal. I thought South Africa was a safe place.

[blackmsport]

SA and Brazil apparently run by gangland... what make these two countries worse is the level of corruption.... ie Police on gangland payroles

[jnkay]

Wow...what an ordeal. Glad at least you are all OK

[threemonkeys]

Sounds like a horrible situation. Scary when you think what could have happened.

[MortgageGuy]

OMG, I am so sorry, is everyone alright?

[TswaneNguni]

The chances of the robbers being police members or have police involvement or help,are very high.

[sleddog]

Sorry to hear Michael...
Although an inconvenience, property can be replaced in most cases. At least you and family are OK!

[psv]

So sorry that this happened to you and your family. It is very upsetting to read. SA is indeed a place where you need to be very careful and you should count your blessings that no one was seriously hurt or even killed.

[Michael N Q8]

Thanks for the kind words. My parents and sister seem to be ok now, but I think they will have some kind of residual issues that will need to be sorted with councilling.

This happened in a City near Johannesburg called Benoni, where the actress Charlize Theron comes from, in a good suburb too.

As noted, the police are hopeless. I gave them my iPad and iPhone details to track, and nothing happened. The car was a Renault Clio Sport, and those cars do not get stolen in SA ever. This was why I bought it in the first place, low risk. The cops have still not found the car two weeks later.

I told the cop taking my statement that my iPhone was taken, she asked, "Ok, but what phone is that, a blackberry?"

This is an example of how sharp the cops are there.

I have to go back there in December but there is no way I will take anything of value with me.

I am grateful that we did not get shot or hurt badly, and in the end I guess I will get new things and it will all fade away with time :(

[Grissom]

SA used to be safe......now over 50% of the police are illiterate, if you can believe that! You are lucky you all made it through alive. Amazing how a country can be ruined in such a relatively short time frame.......

Very sorry that you and your family had to be subjected to such an experience....

[GradyPhilpott]

You have to hunt for the truth about South Africa.

To the American media, it's all sunshine and lollipops there, with certain exceptions, of course.

[gmh1013]

I always though S.A. was a safe place also....

[Ristretto]

Sorry to hear about this, money and other materialistic items come and go the most important thing is that you and your family are alive.

[speedo]

been to benoni, not the nicest of places even with sa standards especially around the bus station.
in pretoria (waterkloof) we stayed at a friend's. the garden was surrounded with electric barbed wire on top of the 3m concrete fence and inside the house there was a special security system locking each room from the living area where the intruders might got in....freakin awful.
we were fortunate enough to spend few wonderful weeks traveling around sa but i guess that downtown joburg is one of the places i wouldn't take my rolex.

[bayerische]

I've never been to SA, and stories like this, and tv shows about the appalling crime rates and violence is keeping me from ever going.

Sad really. I have a few friends that have lived in SA, one was born there, but moved back to Finland with his family since they didn't want the family growing up there because of the crime and violence. The other one went there for work as an adult, but after some 15 years couldn't stand the place anymore... Thought of it as too dangerous.

[speedo]

Originally Posted by bayerische

I've never been to SA, and stories like this, and tv shows about the appalling crime rates and violence is keeping me from ever going.

Sad really. I have a few friends that have lived in SA, one was born there, but moved back to Finland with his family since they didn't want the family growing up there because of the crime and violence. The other one went there for work as an adult, but after some 15 years couldn't stand the place anymore... Thought of it as too dangerous.

it's a shame really since sa could be one of the best places on earth. there are few cities that can rival cape town, the shoreline is just incredible, it has very good diving, safaris, hunting, good wine, excellent food and a lot of different cultures (afrikaans, british, french, xhosa, zulu etc). i really fell in love with sa but i'd think twice before moving there because of the crime. i am just not used to live behind barbed wire and not being able to walk to the store......
however there are still places unaffected by crime and if you are cautious enough you can move around as a tourist pretty safely. just use common sense and avoid what you have to avoid.

[axxeman01]

Sorry to hear that; like the other posters here, I had always thought of South Africa as a safe place.

[HL65]

Sorry to hear that as well. Thank goodness you are all alright as it could have ended much worse!!

[colpol]

I worked with a guy from SA a few years back. He said he'd never move back\ only visits to his family every so often. Said his dad used to sleep with a pump action shotgun beside the bed

least your alive & thats the main thing

[Puffy]

Been to SA and it's a beautiful place!

I work with loads of Saffas and most of them will never return because of what you just described.

Glad you and your family are OK

[Puffy]

Been to SA and it's a beautiful place!

I work with loads of Saffas and most of them will never return because of what you just described.

Glad you and your family are OK

[Jack's Uncle]

First thought.....glad everyone is okay. Possessions can be replaced.

Second thought.....some criminals should just be thrown off a very tall building. I hate thieves.

[Michael N Q8]

some criminals should just be thrown off a very tall building. I hate thieves

Amen to this, at this stage I am willing to do the throwing...