Survives: Pensioner Clive Raaff, played 'unconscious' to save himself and wife from being killed by four armed black males

Clive Raaff, who lives in a complex in La Lucia, said he was watching the cricket on TV on Sunday afternoon when the bandits stormed his quiet unit on the first floor. “I had just gone to open the door for some fresh air. As I turned around to make my way to the kitchen, four men, two of whom were armed, barged in,” he said. “Fortunately my wife was not at home at the time. They forced me down the passage to my bedroom and asked me where the safe was. I told them I had no safe,” he said. Raaff said that when he tried to press the panic alarm in the bedroom, one of the intruders hit him over the head with the butt of the gun, and when he fell, kicked him in the ribs. He said that while on the floor, the men covered his head with a duvet while they ransacked his home. “It was at that point that I decided to lay still and be very quiet, pretending that I was unconscious,” he said. While he lay on the floor, he heard the men going from room to room, unplugging equipment and opening drawers for items to steal. He said that the men had gained access to his small complex by knocking off the cover of the motor of the electric gate and manually opening the gate. “It was pure luck that they hit my house, because I had just opened my door. Come to think of it, we in the complex were bloody lucky they did, because had my door been closed at the time they would have probably gone downstairs where there was woman who was home alone with her 2-year-old daughter, and one can only imagine the trauma they would have experienced,” he said. Raaff said the incident lasted no more than five minutes. “They knew exact what they were doing and went for very specific items. They were very professional,” he said. He said that people who live in complexes needed to be more alert as they often lived with a false of sense of security. “That is exactly what we do. Because we live in these complexes, we let our guard down. In our complex we have electric fencing and will now be putting a camera out front to see what is going on. This experience has just taught us that if they want to get in, they will find a way,” he said. The incident was attended by the Durban North police and Blue Security. Blue Security operations manager, Brian Jackson, said the gang made off with keys, wallets, cellphones, televisions, a camera, computer and jewellery. Police are investigating the robbery and are yet to make an arrest. http://www.facebook.com/boerekrisisaksie first report