Why Go Anywhere Without It?

At 12:53 on the 7th of March 2012, I received a call notifying me of another hijacked vehicle. This call was unlike many others, not only because the caller was extremely calm and to the point, but more because who it was. The call came from my own father who had been hijacked and robbed at gunpoint in his driveway. Many of you will immediately think how unlikely this will happen to you, because you always look behind you when you drive in the gate, you check for people loitering, and you are much more alert than my 69 year old dad. But in reality there is never 100% concentration, 100% of the time, and in that momentary lapse of same, this is just as likely to happen to you as it did to us.

The fact that it was a personal event does not change the basic instincts that kicked in and although the only item which we stood to recover was the only item covered by insurance, the items not covered we knew would be lost forever. The personal invasion of the sanctuary called home, the thoughts which run through your head of what you could have done differently, the moment you saw that gun and wondered what it would feel like when the bullet enters your body. The fact that the time this would cost you, the loss of government resources and that 60th birthday watch, all un-insured and all gone.

No one can deny that we are happy and lucky that no shots were fired and no loss of life or physical injury occurred. So too, there is no one that can deny that the vulnerability of our existence is evident and that each day may be your last. But these notes have nothing to do with the events that we cannot change, control, expect or portray. This is my opportunity to express what happened to me, as the controlling member of a team of people and companies that have the good of their fellow man as core of what they do, and why I can truly say I put my trust in the product we jointly produce, manufacture and support as well as the crew that make it work.

My very next call was to our company where I enlisted the help of colleagues to start live tracking the hijacked vehicle. I had no idea at the time that a customer was visiting and that my fiancé was available to get involved. Within a few minutes the assistance of the SAPS, Digit recovery and their staff, family members, loved ones and customers meant that this recovery was moments away from success. The vehicle was recovered within nine minutes of stopping and within less than 60 seconds the Digitrac team and other recovery teams were all on site. From stolen to recovered was less than 26 minutes.

So from here I need to thank all those involved:

• Dion Bode of First Road Emergency who announced on the radio that all tow trucks should keep a look-out for the stolen vehicle
• Andrew, of 08611Digit, for despatching the recovery team
• Neil Creswell of SAPS Olifantsfontein for relaying the emergency to the police in Tembisa
• Captain Wilkens of the SAPS for talking with me, enabling me to direct them to the vehicle and thus resulting in them being first on the scene
• Steven Wells of Digitrac and his “recovery partner” for being second on the scene, a few seconds after the SAPS
• Reinhardt van Zyl and the crew back at the office for keeping the company running whilst still stepping in as the emergency communications centre
• Wayne Robb of Digit Midrand for following up and ensuring the security of my parents’ property was not compromised
• Elaine, for being my everything, stepping in when needed and for putting others before yourself.

Although no arrests have been made and not one person has an improved feeling of security, I am confident that some peace and confidence is felt among all. The criminals will never be stopped, but we are reminded that we should never go anywhere without it. Digit, the system works.