The were 10 of them. It was 4.30am on Friday. There were nine night shift guards on duty.
The gang of robbers started at the northern most end of the Moti mansion, scaling a wall of the massive property in Sandhurst, owned by property mogul Zunaid Moti.
First they attacked two guards based at a small guard house. Next they attacked four more guards patrolling at their different posts. Then they approached the main guard house at the property's entrance, where there were three guards on duty.
There they confiscated their cellphones and pistols and tied them together. And then, they waited. More than two hours later, nine day-shift guards came on duty.
As they filed onto the property around 6.30am, the robbers took them down. One by one, each was robbed of his cellphone and weapon and tied with his colleagues in the main guardhouse.
When the two shift supervisors came to inspect the property, they too were drawn in and tied up.
Only at 7.30am, when the 20 security guards lay tied up in the guard house, did the men access the Moti mansion, where the seven family members lay unaware of the drama taking place on their property.
Once the men had taken a "substantial amount" of money and jewellery, they locked the Moti family in a room and fled in a white Lexus 4x4 belonging to Zunaid Moti. Police refused to say who the family members were.
On their way out they took the CCTV camera footage that had captured everything, before disappearing into the peak-hour traffic at 8am.
A few hours later, police discovered the Lexus abandoned in the parking of the KFC branch in Bryanston. In it, there were three cellphones, three security lumber jackets, a knife and a radio control taken from the premises.
Police sources told The Star that jewellery, money and 14 firearms - all valued at R3-million - had been taken.
But police spokesman Warrant Officer Moses Maphakela would not confirm this, saying it was an "undisclosed amount of cash".
He said investigators were still piecing together how the 10 men had overpowered the 20 guards, who belong to Mazhuwi Protection Services, a company owned by Moti.
"Police were also still waiting for forensic results from the fingerprints found on the car. What we know is that it is not the gang targeting the area. It's a very unusual crime. It is the first time we have a house robbery with 10 suspects," said Maphakela.
"We are still investigating how the suspects knew exactly where to go. For now we know that some of the men came in wearing uniforms but they also took the uniforms from some of the security guards who were held up, so that officers arriving for the day shift would not realise they were not the proper guards."
At the same time, the Moti family has launched an internal investigation with their heads of security to establish what went wrong.
It is also understood that Moti had purchased the property next to his mansion and had broken down the building for further renovations.
Family spokeswoman Tracy Purto said the family were still very traumatised by Friday's events. She said the family had not ruled out the possibility that it was an inside job, but they were still investigating.
"The Motis have a big staff compliment. They are catching up with all their staff. But their focus is to co-operate with the police, but firstly to concentrate of the well-being of the family," she said.
"They (the robbers) were calm and not violent, although they used threats of violence to get what they wanted. They were patient and meticulous. It was well planned, they knew what they wanted."
The incident has drawn mixed reactions from surrounding neighbours. One man, who did not wish to be named, eagerly questioned police at the scene on whether the suspects had been arrested. He told the Star last week that he, too, had been held up at his home. Another neighbour, though, was unperturbed.
Maphakela said anyone with information should call the Bramley police at 011 445 4115 or the Alexandra Trio Task Team's Matome Mokoena at 082 217 3016.