The hole that was cut through the ceiling in their bedroom.
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It was not the damaged or stolen belongings that hurt and angered an Eshowe woman whose home was recently broken into. It was seeing her late grandparents’ belongings on the floor, trampled upon.
"The boxes contained their belongings such as photographs, letters, and books, as well as my grandfather's tie and beanie and my grandmother's hairbrush. My grandfather was a pastor and many of his hand-written sermons were just thrown onto the floor, said the 37-year-old homeowner, who declined to be named.
"They also stole my sentimental jewellery, some of which I had kept for many years, and jewellery that my parents and sister had gifted our children."
But through what happened, she said God was present because they were not home at the time.
The woman, her husband, 36, and their children, aged 7 and 4, left home at 10.30am to visit her parents. She said that even though Eshowe was known as a "safe small town", they had many security measures in place - high-fences with barbed wire, CCTV cameras, burglar guards on the windows, and an alarm system.
"We also lock every room door."
At 5.14pm, she received a notification on her cellphone's security app that the alarm system had triggered.
"Another alert followed, indicating that Zone 5 was activated. When this happens, I usually disarm and rearm, thinking an insect might be near the sensor. But I couldn't access the app.
"I panicked and called the security company. I thought an electricity outage in the area might have caused it, but there was none. Security officers went to my home and said everything looked fine from the outside, but they sent a picture asking if the pedestrian gate was left open. We had closed it. They then went inside and everything went downhill," she said.
The damage to one of the doors.
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The woman said she was informed that the bathroom and lounge windows had been removed, so she and her husband returned to their home.
Their dog, she said, emerged terrified from hiding when they called for him.
"We were in shock. The burglars had carefully removed the putty, the glass, and the burglar guards, and left them carefully outside. It appeared as if they entered through the bathroom ceiling, which had a hole it. They reached the ceiling alarm system and cut power to both the alarm and the CCTV cameras. They even removed the backup battery and cut a hole in the ceiling to my bedroom."
She said every door in the house was broken.
"Our home had been ransacked and our belongings were scattered everywhere. They went through every bit of our belongings, even the dirty laundry that was thrown into the bathtub. They took sentimental jewellery that my parents and sister gave to our children, as well as my husband and my jewellery and clothes. The TVs, PlayStation, cellphones, a work laptop, new dishware and cutlery were stolen. They went through our personal documents which were scattered across our bed. They even damaged our fridge."
The woman said the burglars emptied out and took a trunk, which contained the children's baby blankets.
"The next day, while cleaning up, we saw that our bed base, a sleeper couch in the children’s room and the couches in the lounge were slit. It was as if they were looking for something."
The bed base which was slit.
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She said the incident reminded her of the three home invasions she experienced during her childhood.
The woman said for a few nights after the burglary, she and her husband stayed in a bed and breakfast while her children, unaware of the incident, lived with her parents.
"We were terrified to sleep in the house as the doors did not lock, and there was a hole in the bedroom."
She said she had since learnt of other similar incidents and in one of them, a neighbour's dogs had been pepper sprayed. She believed this might explain why her dog was shaking and terrified.
The woman said despite the trauma, she was grateful to God.
"When bad things happen, people often get angry at God, but for me, God was there because we were not. I would rather lose the material things and have my family be safe. We can start over. I am very grateful. It is the small mercies that count the most."
She said she hoped visible policing would increase.