Swart had just arrived home from a meeting and, after greeting his wife, Hannelie, went to the office which is on the same premises.
Shortly after sitting at his computer, at 6pm, he was confronted by three armed men.
“For a minute, I didn’t register what was happening,” Frans said in a statement issued on Monday.
“It felt so unreal that I almost thought it was a joke.”
The three men started hitting and kicking him and forced him to lie on the floor with his head down, facing the ground.
He says he was bleeding profusely and found it difficult to breathe through the blood but his captors would not allow him to turn his head to ease his breathing.
They screamed at him to tell them where the safe was and while he was explaining to them Hannelie came out of the house to call him for dinner.
Hearing her, the men grabbed Hannelie and forced her into the office where they threw her to the floor.
During the commotion the family’s dogs began barking, alerting their 17-year-old son to the problem.
When Frans-Hendrik came out to investigate the men grabbed and assaulted him and forced him into the office.
All three victims were tied up with neck ties.
The men then began ransacking the house, taking electrical goods, computers, cameras and jewellery to the value of R850 000.
There after three of the men packed their loot into the getaway car, Hannelie’s Mercedes Benz valued at R480 000, in which they later fled the scene, while the other two guarded the family and continued their assault.
Frans says that throughout the ordeal he was worried that his marketing manager, Charl Senekal would arrive for their pre-arranged meeting and walk in on the robbery in progress.
“The next minute the robbers noticed lights at the gate and started screaming at us, demanding to know who it was.
“I calmly told them that Charl and I had a meeting,” Frans says.
When Charl entered the house he was surprised by the men who put a pistol to his head and forced him into the lounge.
They assaulted him badly before tying him up and upending a couch on top of him.
The family was then locked in the office and the men left.
Hearing them race away in Hannelie’s car, Charl managed to free himself and went looking for Frans and his family.
Hannelie was also able to free herself and helped Frans and Frans-Hendrik out of their bindings.
Charl then broke down the office door to free the three captives.
Speaking about her ordeal, Hannelie says: “The Lord sent his angels to watch over us and we were always aware that the angels would protect us.”
Capt Johannes Ramphora, spokesman for the Springs police, confirmed the incident and say that a case of armed robbery has been opened.
No arrests have been made.
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