For 32-year old Aaron*, it’s a day he says he will never forget. He and his friends were relaxing around the television set, when four men dressed in police uniforms and brandishing firearms stormed in through the open front door and started yelling for Aaron and his friends to lie down on the floor.
It took a few moments of breathless confusion and incomprehension for Aaron to realise what was happening: their home had been invaded, they were being robbed, and these weren’t men of the law after all but, in fact, the complete opposite.
This happened some 14 years ago, when Aaron was still attending high school in Mamelodi. The intruders absconded with a number of valuables – mostly easy-to-carry items such as wallets and watches – and, while no one was hurt in the incident, the trauma of that fateful afternoon has stayed with Aaron to this very day.
For 32-year old Aaron*, it’s a day he says he will never forget. He and his friends were relaxing around the television set, when four men dressed in police uniforms and
And Aaron’s case is far from unique.
According to the findings of the latest Victims of Crime Survey conducted by Statistics South Africa, “South African households increasingly feel that the levels of violent and property crimes are increasing and this makes it unsafe to walk in parks or even allow their children to play freely in their neighbourhoods.” The report goes on to say that “crime instils fear amongst households and it may hinder their ability to engage in their day-to-day activities.”
The latest national crime statistics also paint a bleak picture, reporting that more than 20 000 residential robberies and in the vicinity of 25 000 burglaries were committed during the year under review.
According to Siphiwe Thabethe, a Soweto-based installer of access control and security equipment, one’s entrance gate is usually the first point of entry for robbers and burglars, and thus also the first security point.
Siphiwe, who frequently embarks on campaigns to educate township-dwellers about how they can secure themselves and their homes, stresses the importance of having a reliable remote gate installed at home. A significant number of attacks, says Siphiwe, are perpetrated in residential driveways as the hapless victim is getting out of his or her car in order to manually open the gate. With a remote gate, one can remain in the relative safety of one’s vehicle until the gate has opened all the way, and it can be electronically set to close automatically, further increasing security.
With the number of crimes targeting homes on the rise, a remote gate is no longer a luxury item, but a necessity, and the increased demand means that it is more affordable than ever, with a number of township-based installers offering supremely cost-effective installation packages.
Centurion Systems is a leading South African manufacturer of remote gates and other access control solutions with 30 years’ experience securing homes and businesses with their cutting edge products, a number of which have won awards.
As a company specialising in security, CENTURION provides the following tips for staying safe at home:
With the holidays just around the corner, CENTURION has also provided a number of tips for securing your home or business if you are planning on going away during the Festive Season:
For more information, contact Centurion Systems on 011 699 2510 or Siphiwe Thabete from JS Security on 082 834 7459.
*not his real name
