What Is This World Coming To?

What is this world coming to, I ask... But more importantly, what is this COUNTRY coming to? I have never understood violent crimes, and I never will. Can we never get a break?

Let me share with you some stories my family and close friends have had to go through in the past few years...

When I was a baby, people would break in when nobody was home. If they found somebody home, they'd just lock them in a bathroom and that would be it. No longer is it that "painless".

One of the first bad crimes I can remember in my lifetime, is when my mother's best friend was almost hijacked on the road at gunpoint. I can't remember the details of the story, but she managed to get away with her car - and unharmed. As you can imagine, that is still extremely traumatising!

I don't think long after (or perhaps not long before), my aunt (who is an epileptic and cannot drive) was walking home from work one day. She had just come to the gates at her block of flats, when a man came up behind her and put a knife to her throat. He stole her handbag only, but left behind a lot of fear.

In February 2008, my mom's boyfriend stopped at a robot (traffic light) after coming off the highway, and noticed the car in front of him putting its reverse lights on. He was wondering if they knew they had done it or not, but with being distracted, a man came up on the passenger side, smashed through the window, and tried to grab what was on the seat next to him. My mom's boyfriend grabbed toward the pile on the seat, but only managed to get his jacket. The other man got away with his bag, and everything inside!

The next thing happened in June/July 2008.. This time, it was personal. As I was driving home from work, I pulled off of the highway and had to stop at the robot (traffic light). As I glanced to the side, I noticed a man standing there with what looked like a crowbar in his hands. He started coming toward my car, so I just drove right through the light and straight home. We called the cops to report the incident, and we thought it was over. My mother and I went to bed, but we were woken around 5am in the morning with the sound of shattering glass. We both knew this wasn't an ornament knocked over by a pet - this was something serious. My immediate reaction was to lock my door, which I did.

I could hear my mother banging on her window and yelling at them to go away. Next thing I heard her come out of her room and head over to the room they'd smashed the glass in. From then all I heard was her screaming for help, yelling at them to leave - all I could do was scream out my own window to try get help from the neighbours.... No reaction from anyone. I was standing there in such confusion - was she yelling "help" for me? Or was she yelling "help" for the neighbours? What to do? Do I go out there and possibly get hurt, or do I keep myself safe in my room? What are they doing to her? I have no idea what's going on - I only have sound effects.

A moment later my mom was telling me it's ok, they're gone, and I can come out. At first I wasn't sure if she meant it, or if these people were telling her to say it. Eventually I realised that she meant it, so I came out, and saw her in her bedroom trying to get her gun together. She was bleeding from the head - very badly. I still had no idea what happened, but I called for the police, and she called her boyfriend. The cops arrived quite quickly - I was actually quite impressed with their response time, because in this country, you can wait hours and hours before somebody comes to you.

The first 2 cops immediately came in and tried to check if there was anyone in our house, but what seemed like seconds later, a huge truck of cops in bullet proof vest and huge guns appeared at the scene too. I was incredibly impressed! I felt like I was in a movie! They all ran around the entire complex, jumping over walls, shining flashlights trying to find these guys. Sadly, they couldn't find anyone, and the large group left us with the first 2 cops, to make our statements.

After that, I managed to get the whole story of what happened. When Mom looked out her window, she only saw 1 man, and it looked as though he was about to go into the house - her immediate reaction was "oh no you don't!" She never realised there were more already in that room. She stormed through there - in her underwear and a vest, I might add! Only to realise there was already a man in there, and he was trying to get my computer. For some reason her protective instinct took over, and she decided there is no way in hell she's letting these people take her daughter's computer - knowing that my life, my photographs, my career, everything.. is on that computer. So she grabbed onto it, and wouldn't let go. As she's having a tug of war battle with this man, she is yelling for help from the neighbours, and yelling at them to go away.

Sadly, when she swore at one of the men standing at the window, he lost his temper, swore back at her, and threw a brick at her head. The brick hit her right in her hairline, causing a lot of blood... But she never gave up, never dropped down or stopped fighting. I think that's what scared these guys off - even after hitting her in the head with a brick, she wasn't going to stop, so they ran off. Unfortunately, as the man holding the computer ran off, he dropped it, and it fell down my mom's leg, also hurtig her quite badly.

While we were making our report to the police, we somehow got around to talking about other things they'd responded to that night... Incredibly enough, they were the very same cops who responded to our call about the near hijacking I had the previous night. I thought that was fascinating - that these very men were the ones who'd helped us twice!

A few months later, we found out a bone and some ligaments in her wrist had been broken from the fight, and she had to have surgery - to this day she still struggles with that wrist.

I had also been told a story by the blind girl I used to drive to university, that her friend had a terrible break in themselves. They had been renovating their home, and a safe was brought in and installed. Clearly they must have been watched by someone, who now knew there was a safe in this house. When they came home from an outing, there was a huge group of men with guns (AK-47's included), demanding that the safe be opened. The father explained that there's nothing in the safe, but they didn't believe him. They beat him with their guns, tied everyone up, yelled at them, spat at them, kicked them, and held guns to the backs of their heads - claiming they would shoot them one by one until that safe was opened. The father opened the safe, and showed them it was empty.. This just made the intruders angry. They beat him more, and told him they're going to rape his daughter in front of him, and there's nothing he can do about it. They kept yelling they're going to kill them. I don't know why or how it ended, but eventually the men left, and the family was ok. HORRENDOUS!

The next thing happened last week, while my mom's boyfriend was at the coast visiting his mother. His father had just passed away, and so he went down there to comfort her. He was walking on the beach one afternoon - all he had on him was his cellphone. He noticed these men coming toward him, he thought perhaps they were just going to ask him for the time. The next thing he knows, one of the men lunged at him with a knife - aiming for the heart I think. Luckily he lifted his arm up in time, and the knife cut through his wrist instead. They grabbed his cellphone and ran away. He had to try get himself back home, and back to the hospital, but he was losing a lot of blood! By the time he got to the hospital, and they stabilised him, they said he lost at least a litre of blood. He has 12 stitches, but thank God he is alive!

And now.. The worst.. And this is what completely ticks me off about this country!

Last night, our dear family friends were spending time as a family on their patio having a braai (barbecue). My mother's best friend was there, with her 2 daughters, the 1 daughter's husband, and all their kids. The next thing they knew, a group of 3 men with guns were in their yard. The men held guns to the 10 year old twin girls' heads, and told everyone to be quiet. The 16 year old daughter refused to allow anything to happen to her sisters, and threw herself over them, told the men NO! and called for their father. Their father had been sleeping on the couch, but woke when he heard his daughters screaming. He rushed through toward the door, and they shot him... In the heart... And ran away. My mom's best friend, and her daughter tried to resuscitate him, but it was no use. He was probably dead before he hit the ground. How pointless was that?! You come there to rob people, and instead, you shoot and kill a man - in front of his wife and his children... And run away, because you can't deal with what you just did! Please read this article about the incident: Dad Shot In Front Of Family.

I just cannot believe the horrendous things that people are doing to each other in this country. Then people wonder why I want to leave!