Every time she hears the words “Hey! Hey! Hey!”, Tammy* is trans-ported back to the day when an attacker held a knife close to her 2-year old son’s throat while another held her husband at gunpoint.
“Everything happened so fast, but it felt like forever,” she stated.
“Break-ins are kind of common, but I never expected my family to be attacked in broad daylight.”
The incident, during which Tammy and her husband were robbed of their cellphones and her handbag, occurred shortly after 09:00 on Saturday 5 October as the family were getting ready to leave their Sandbaai home.
“We were parked on the pavement, and I was standing with our son while my husband was busy tying the last knot to secure some equipment onto the bakkie,” she related.
The men initially requested money, but went on their way after being informed by the couple they didn’t have cash on them. But they turned back and once again approached the couple.
“My husband was still busy tying the knot, but he turned around when he heard the one attacker cock the gun. When I saw the gun and the sun glinting on the long knife, I jumped into the bakkie and locked the doors.”
Her husband said everything just froze when he looked down the gun barrel. “I realised it wasn’t a toy gun,” he said. “I tried to stay calm in order not to escalate things. All I wanted to do was protect my wife and son. I threw the keys a short distance away from me because we thought they may want the bakkie and gave them my phone.”
While the one with the firearm took her husband’s phone, the other started banging on the vehicle’s windows, forcing Tammy to open the door.
“I just wanted to get them away from us so I complied,” she said.
Tammy gave the attacker her handbag, but when he continued shouting at her and moved the knife closer to her son’s throat she realised he wanted her cellphone lying next to her.
Watching the robber point the knife at his wife and son, said John*, the husband, was the most difficult thing he had to do. “I was furious but also bewildered. I wanted to defend them, but also didn’t want to do anything that would aggravate the attackers and cause them to shoot us.”
The robbers threatened to open fire if the couple screamed for help and then calmly strolled away in the direction of Zwelihle.
“Initially we felt so powerless as they walked away with our belongings, but afterwards we were just so grateful for God’s grace that kept us safe and the fact that we escaped without a scratch,” said Tammy.
The attack, she stated, was completely unexpected as they live in a very quiet area. She added: “Our families who live in the Free State want us to come back, but we always told them it’s much safer here. I just want to make people aware of what happened so they will be cautious whenever they leave the house.”
John added: “We want to urge people not to be so complacent. Crime has become worse over the last two years.”
He thanked Lourens Theron and the team of AfriForum Alfa Neighbourhood Watch for their swift response and support. “They were really great.”
The police confirmed that a case of robbery with a firearm was being investigated. No arrests had been made yet.
(* Aliases used to protect the victims’ identities).
