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[OM] Re: Off topic: Another brush with South African crime

Subject: [OM] Re: Off topic: Another brush with South African crime
From: <chucknorcutt@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2008 02:33:22 +0000
Better buy a semi-automatic weapon.

Chuck Norcutt


>  -------Original Message-------
>  From: Dawid Loubser <dawidl@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>  Subject: [OM] Off topic: Another brush with South African crime
>  Sent: Oct 13 '08 14:31
>  
>  
>  Hi Guys,
>  
>  This is very off-topic, but I just wanted to give you a bit of insight
>  to our life here in Johannesburg, South Africa. On Saturday morning at
>  03:00, whilst my fiancee and I were asleep, we awoke to an ungodly loud
>  crash as our glass sliding door in the room next to our bedroom was
>  smashed.
>  
>  Two black men entered and made their way to our bedroom. It was the most
>  frightful, awful few seconds as I was realising this happened while
>  trying to wake up. Luckily, I could close our door in time, but it did
>  not have a key, so we had to hold the door closed with our hands. We
>  remained quiet / calm (well, on the outside, in anyway) amidst the
>  threats (they wanted to have the door opened, which usually results in
>  rape and death around here) and with us not giving way, were expecting
>  bullets to fly through the door (and us) at any moment. For the second
>  time, but somehow more acutely this time (compared to when we were
>  hijacked in 2005 with two guns against our heads), I had to make peace
>  with the fact that we will most likely die. This is not a good thing to
>  truly, really experience. Don't think they kill swiftly here without at
>  least raping the woman and torturing the men.
>  
>  I think our quiet insistence made them unsure of what to expect when
>  they open the door, and ultimately made them less insistent to enter.
>  For a while, my fiancee held the door on her own while I found and
>  loaded my (inherited) single-shot shotgun, which I would have had to use
>  if they did enter, but which would have been a very big problem since
>  there were more than one of them, and I had one shot at a time. I am
>  glad it never came to that, and ultimately they left, but not before
>  taking what they pleased from my house, most expensive of which were two
>  Apple Powerbook 17" computers. I cannot explain the gut-wrenching fear
>  we experienced as two helpless people trapped in their bedroom with
>  violent barbarians literally pushing against our body strength to come
>  in and have their way with us. People see things like these in the
>  movies, and they think they will be rambo, but wait until you are in
>  such a situation.
>  
>  I am shocked anew at the complete disregard here for life and property
>  in the South African (and, very often, the rest of African) culture.
>  This is not a racist statement, it is a statistical observation based on
>  me being subjected to at least eight acts of crime in the past seven
>  years. There is no attempt at subtlety, they break in and break and do
>  as they wish - as if it is their right to do so.
>  
>  The continuing violent crime against the white minority here is
>  tantamount to genocide, it seems to be getting worse and worse. Some say
>  this is society is now the product of the Apartheid-era undoings, but as
>  a young white South Africa who had absolutely nothing to do with that, I
>  am still subjected to this barbarism. You face an enemy who does not
>  reason, does not feel, and has nothing to lose - an animal.
>  
>  To give you context, we live in a town-house complex with electrical
>  fencing around, and guards who patrol every hour. Yet, they directly and
>  easily came to us in this way. And we are just average people, and
>  people on average die when this happens - and it happens daily.
>  
>  Anyway, I know there aren't any other South African members on this
>  list, but wherever you are, I would not wish this experience upon my
>  worst enemy. If you live in the sort of place where you don't need to
>  create a prison for yourself, please go out and have a safe,
>  incident-free evening walk for us over here...
>  
>  
>  
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