The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous for her own safety, explained how the sanctuary of her garden and household has been violated by a man who is still on the loose.

The terrifying experience started on Tuesday two weeks ago, when the family noticed that one of their windows was smashed. Their gate is out of action and leaves their front yard fully accessible from the street, and they suspected someone tried to burgle them.

Life carried on as normal for the family until Thursday, when a man intruded on her property.

The teacher explains that the man stood at her locked safety gate, and without an introduction demanded that she hand over “his documents”. He told her that he had been robbed of his ID, passport and cellphone, and that he had traced his stolen cellphone to their address in Protea Street.

She calmly explained that she knew nothing of the incident, explaining further that there are no other people living on the property. As he became more adamant, she told him to contact the police and that they could then search her residence.

The man then left, only to return minutes later, this time offering a reward of R10 000 for his belongings. She held her ground and told him again that he has the wrong house when the threats started.

“He told me that he would kill us, saying that that is what he does. His job is to kill people. I then immediately called the police and he left before their arrival.”

Thursday a week later, they were awoken at around 04:00 in the morning by their barking dog. At first, they ignored it, because other dogs and cats often roam the front of their yard. The dog became more restless, and upon their investigation, they found their Golf 7 TSI in flames.

Passing motorists stopped and helped extinguish the inferno, and the police were contacted and responded in record time.

The family made contact with their neighbours, who had CCTV cameras overlooking their property.

The CCTV footage, although unclear, showed that the man who threatened her and his vehicle, were similar to the footage on the morning of the arson.

The unidentified suspect, was driving a cream-coloured Land Rover and she suspects that he is a foreign national because of his “strong English accent”.

Police found that he had broken open the fuel outlet to the vehicle and had stuffed pieces of material into the tank. An empty Whisky bottle was found on the scene, and the rear window was smashed, with white patterns on the floor, suggesting that the inside of the car was likely doused with an accelerant.

A case has been opened with police but no arrests have been made, leaving the mother in fear of the man’s return.