As I walked from the car to unlock the house, I was startled by a noise from behind me. I turned to find several men approaching. Thinking for a second they were neighbours, I was preparing to greet them when I noticed the dull light reflecting off the barrel of the gun in the first man's hand. They were all armed, who knows, eight or ten, maybe more of them...

'Oh my God!' I tried to whisper to Carol 'We're being hit!'

Stunned by their numbers, I put my hands up, told them I'd co-operate and lay face down on the garage floor. I told Carol to do the same, she did. We were mortified by the situation.

They took our purse and wallet, watches and jewellery before tying us up and leading us inside, asking for our computers and any guns. Then they carried the kids in, crying, but we managed to calm them down too. All the time I co-operated as best I could without looking up or at them. They took the TVs and video, hi-fi and a whole bunch of stuff and loaded it into the car.

Thank God, they left us alone, only tying me really tight as they progressed, helping themselves to our property, drinking something from the fridge. We remained totally passive, just lying there as still and quiet as we possibly could. It worked, luckily, but who knows what could have been if someone tried to be a hero...

Then our neighbours arrived and they quickly neutralised them too. Our neighbours heeded my advice to stay calm and obey the now fourteen or so men robbing us. They were tied up, too. Then one tried to take my wedding ring but it was stuck. I told him to use water and twist it off, he did, who knows if I'd have a finger left if he couldn't get it off...

They then asked for the Saab key, took it and started loading the car. But, soon they were back. 'How do you drive this car?' he asked. I tried to explain the central ignition but he couldn't understand. 'Take the other car,' I urged him. 'That one you will easily drive...'

He took my advice and they re-packed everything into the other car in the garage and soon quietly disappeared. The Saab was too much for them to handle, even to start...

The police found the other car the next morning. All the rest is gone. We started rebuilding our lives the next day.

The fact we were hit in a 'secure' complex in a 'secure' neighbourhood is another matter. We moved out immediately. We want to forget it. We won't. But thank God, we emerged unharmed besides the trauma, which we're addressing through counselling as we move forward.

I am away often. Now Carol wants me there all the time. The reminders are constant, but we must carry on. My daughter Marcella is one of five little girls in grade 2 at her convent currently undergoing trauma counselling — about the average for every grade in that and most other schools in the area — another shocking fact. That several government ministers and officials have endured similar situations is just as frightening.

Surely it is time for action against crime. The police are under funded and under staffed, they can’t cope. The law is lax. And crime is out of control...

Indeed, this isn't your average long-term car test. But, it proves that a different car has its advantages and I trust you will take our experience as something that can so easily happen to any of us, any time. So, be aware. Be very aware...