Update on the Attacks in our Area

I have mulled over my blog that I wrote about the unrest and violence in our specific area and I have decided to write a follow on because things have gone from bad to worse, with more than two weeks of incidences almost every night and more than one, usually two or three, at a time.

At first we thought that it was just one group of people, a team of three men, that is responsible for everything, however it appears that there is now more than one group that is working in the greater area of the Hammanskraal Community.  There are a number of families, all of whom have personally been attacked and intimidated, that have decided to pack their bags and move away from the area.  Their children were used by the criminals to intimidate the parents into doing and giving what was wanted.

The sadness of all of this is that there has been very little help or support from either the local police or the provincial police which is leaving the community with the feeling that they have been left stranded and need to fend for themselves.

For years there have been reports that there has been a marked increase in farm attacks, post 1994, and with all the publicity surrounding them, the government has yet to step in and show that they are serious about protecting the rural areas in this country.

Our community have had meetings together to discuss what has been going on, to warn people of what to expect and largely to stand together and work as one to protect each other.  For almost two weeks I think most people have walked around like zombies from a lack of sleep.  Working at their jobs during the day and patrolling, blocking off roads or chasing criminals at night.

The slightest sound and we are wide awake...Molly has a few times started barking in the middle of the night, waking us all.  Each time it has been a strange dog on our property,but at least her sharp ears have managed to distinguish between the usual night time sounds and the distress calls of the plovers.  We patrol two people in a vehicle, moving around our immediate vicinity, shining torches into the now long grass.  It is difficult to see anything at the moment, which also makes it easier for unwelcome visitors to hide away without being detected.  The community is now investing in thermal night sights so the front men will be able to pick up movement and have a better chance of following anything they observe.

I am not as panicky now as I was just days after our neighbour arrived at our gate but we have changed our lifestyle radically.  No longer is the house left open when we are home but moving around outside.  I (and I say I because I am usually home alone), lock the security gate and take the key with me....half the dogs remain inside in the kitchen and the rest follow me wherever I go.  Even when inside I keep the house shut with all the curtains closed.We have taken to hiding our valuables away.  We don't have a safe, neither do we have or own any firearms...we both believe that having our own firearm can be more dangerous to us than to any intruder.  Listening to others who have had their privacy invaded has made me take extra precautions and we believe we have deduced which is the safest room and the least often ransacked.  At night before we go to bed, we check to see what is lying around and we pack away or hide away....hiding hopefully in areas that will not be checked.  We put away any trace of items or valuables that  are most likely to be stolen....if they don't see anything to make them think there is something for them to steal, then hopefully they will believe we don't have them.

We have discussed scenarios together should we be broken into one day and I hope we will remain level headed and calm enough to play them out.  My worst would be if anyone threatened NiQi and we have given her strict instructions to remain in bed at all times, no matter what might happen to us and we will tell them she is dying...her machinery that works all night long and the oxygen pipe on her face will hopefully convince them that we are speaking the truth.  God forbid that we will ever be in this position...it's too much to comprehend but at the same time a stark reality of  what could very well happen.  Pray, that's what I do day and night, day and night...pray...