Gavin Higgins is lucky to be alive after burglars held him at gunpoint after jumping over his wall on Wednesday evening, October 30.
This happened just a day after a woman was abducted from her home in Salt Rock (‘They exploded through the ceiling!’, Courier, November 8).
After publishing her story last week Higgins contacted the Courier through our Facebook page to share his ordeal.
Five armed men held Higgins ransom at his house on Marion Road in Ballito.
“I was sitting on my couch in my flat watching TV when I heard a thud and one of the dogs ran outside. I got up off the couch to see what it was,” he said.
Higgins saw an armed burglar coming towards him in the garden and shouted at the intruder, asking him what he was doing. The situation quickly escalated.
“After a few seconds the first guy reached me and had the gun in my face shouting for me to keep quiet which I did.”
His neighbour had luckily heard his screams and pressed his panic button, setting of the alarm next door. The men forced Higgins back into the flat.
“Once they established I had keys for the main house, they started demanding I open the house for them.”
They entered the house with Higgins and immediately asked where the money and safe was.
“One of the guys slipped my car-keys off the keys left in the front door, then pressed the gate remote to try and open the gates but he hit the wrong button and set off our panic alarm too,” he said.
The most “vocal and aggressive” of the burglars grabbed Higgins and threw him into the bathroom. Thinking he was going to be shot, he turned to face the gunman.
“At that point, the only thing going through my mind was what it was going to feel like when the bullets started hitting me. He slammed the door shut and I dropped down and crouched behind the basin stem, waiting for the shots, but they never came,” he said.
The burglars locked him in the room and stole some items before leaving with his car. His neighbour waited for IPSS security to arrive before going to Higgins’ rescue. They found him locked in the bathroom.
“I have deep gratitude for my neighbour Rudolph. If he had not hit that alarm, I would probably be a lot worse off right now,” he said.
Higgins also praised IPSS for their sterling work.
“A massive thanks goes out to Frank Labidi from IPSS. A lot of the work Frank does goes unnoticed, and he is heavily under-appreciated in this town. Trust me, when it is your turn, and Frank gets involved, you will be humbled by the lengths this man will go to to protect this community.”