I had heard somebody run away in the direction of the river when I talked to the cat, and the others that was still in the house must have gone there too, as they couldn't go out in front. When the police came they were all gone, and after extensive searching up and down the river, they did not find any thieves, but they did find Jan's bicycle stowed away underneath some brush!
I was in a state, as now the house was open to every thief around, but the two policemen and Gary kind of balanced the doors in the opening, and we stacked some furniture against it on the inside. But I was worried, as the thieves could come back when the police and Gary left, knowing that I would be inside my own house, and couldn't see what was happening at Jan's place.
I had decided to only phone Jan in the morning, as it was of no use unsettling him, as he was six hundred kilometers away, and I did not want him to jump in the car and drive home in a fury!
Nothing much was taken, as I had surprised them, and they had to flee without their loot. A lot of stuff was packed together at the door that was taken out, ready to be taken away, and by the amount of stuff I knew that they must have been waiting for a small truck to take it away. All over the house were heaps of burned paper, I suppose the paper having been lit to see, as they dared not put any lights on. They could easily have put the house on fire, as the wooden floor in the kitchen was badly scarred where they had lit some paper!
The next morning I waited in vain for the police to come and take my statement, as they suggested the previous night.
Two days later Jan had to go to Johannesburg for work, and I was so scared to stay alone with the two kids, worrying that the thieves would see that Jan was away again, and come back for their loot, as we were still waiting for Elliot the builder to come and help Jan put the doors back. Of the police there was yet no sign, and they never came to take my statement, and send for the fingerprint guy.So I took a huge rock, tied it securely to a rope, and suspended this over the top step leading up to the veranda, with a thin piece of gut tied to a chair spanning the same step about a foot from the floor,  as a trigger when pushed against with a foot!
Knew it would probably not work, but it made me feel a lot better, although for the three nights Jan was away, I did not get a lot of sleep. I was safe enough with the kids in my own home, but as this people do such a lot of damage when looting, I worried about Jan's stuff!
As the police in Haarlem seemed to have disappeared, never answering their phone, I decided to phone Uniondale police station, and they were horrified that our police never even took a statement, or get fingerprints taken, and less than an hour later, they were at my door. They had a hearty laugh about my device to flatten the thieves with a rock, but after they had a good look at it, told me that is wasn't a bad invention at all!