The Durban woman who was kidnapped while jogging before dawn on Monday, has told how she kept her calm during the ordeal and pleaded with the robbers not to harm her family while they were ransacking her home.
The jogger, 37, an accountant and mother-of-two whose name is known to the Daily News, also relived her terror ride with the fleeing gang who took her hostage and how, but for her quick thinking, the car nearly plunged down an embankment.
The drama began at about 4.30am while she jogging in Lena Ahrens Road, when a VW Polo stopped next to her and the two occupants forced her into the car at gunpoint.
A Gauteng financial adviser witnessed the kidnapping and followed the car at a distance. He then alerted police and Blue Security.
The jogger trains for an hour on weekday mornings.
After her ordeal, she recalled that a minibus taxi parked along the road had given her an eerie feeling. A few strides later, the silver Polo stopped alongside her.
“I kept jogging and ignored the car. Then I heard this voice say ‘Stop, I have a gun’.
“They forced me into the back of their car. They told me if I co-operated I would live; if I panicked, they would kill me,” she said.
The men wanted to know where she lived and if she had a safe and valuables.
“I blurted out ‘give me a moment to think’. At that point I even forgot my name and where I lived. It was a terrible feeling to tell them, but nevertheless I stayed calm. It was clear they were going to harm me,” she said.
She pleaded with the men not to harm her two children, aged 2 and 5, and her husband, who was sleeping.
When the gang got to the house, in Cato Road, they pushed a gun to her back and forced her to open the gate and door. “Indoors they became aggressive. They demanded I switch the lights on.
“My husband just sat up in bed with eyes as big as saucers. He was shocked, but before he could react, I told him to remain calm,” she said.
The couple were pushed on to the bedroom floor. A blanket was placed over them while the men ransacked the house. They stacked appliances, but abandon the loot when security guards arrived.
“I explained we did not have jewellery because we were robbed in February 2014. My ring was taken in a mugging earlier this year.
“They thought I was lying. I showed them one of my jewellery boxes. It had a eternity ring in it. My husband gave his wedding ring from the bedside drawer,” she said.
The gang grabbed the jogger and walked out of the house using her as a shield, telling security guards they would kill her if they came closer.
Seeing the guards’ guns drawn, one robber fled over the wall. The other bundled her into the car and sped off. Security guards shot at the car tyres.
“The driver kept swearing at me and asked why I had been so clever and hit the panic button, which I had not done.
“He said he was doing this for his children. I heard high speed revs, felt the hard braking and heard the noise of the rim grating on the ground. He told me to ask the guards to stop following us. I did not know how I could. I had my head down on the side of the door,” she added.
“The car slowed down and I felt a gush of wind as the driver’s door opened. He jumped out and I grabbed the steering wheel and pulled it to the right, otherwise the car was heading towards an embankment. The car rolled and jerked to a halt,” she said.
“I sat there thinking about what I should do: find help or stay in the car? I didn’t know where I was. I stayed in the car for what seemed like an eternity, because I figured the police must be somewhere. The police arrived and a sigh of relief came over me,” she said.
Her husband remained on the floor under the blanket until he realised the gang had gone. Then he learnt his wife had been kidnapped, but had been found alive and unharmed in Chesterville.
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane said a case of kidnapping and attempted armed robbery had been opened at Umbilo police station.