I do not feel safe in my country. I have a wife and two kids and I am concerned for their safety. Most people will agree that I cannot trust the government for a safe environment and have to hire extra security for my home (in my case I choose ADT).
Emigration is not an option, I love my country and all my family is here. Also, which country will just take in anybody from South Africa?
I am privileged and live in a house in a nice neighbourhood in Cape Town. I do not know of a serious crime incident in my immediate neighbourhood for quite some time now.
Today I realised I've been living with a false sense of security. Two serious incidents in my town (Somerset West) has come to my intention. In both cases the owners of the houses broken into had landed in intensive care in hospital. These incidents are not news worthy and I only know about them through mutual acquaintances.
I contacted ADT this morning because I had a suspicion that my radio signal is compromised. It turned out I have been negligent.
They knew I was not connected since April. Today is the 11'th of September. They have not contacted me about it, but happily took my R416.59 each month. Apparently they did contact me in April to say my battery is low. I know my battery is low, I didn't know that my radio doesn't work when the battery is low.
If there was an incident and my wife pressed the panic button, they would have been blissfully unaware of it. Their response to my enquiry was that I should have checked my connection with their call centre. The way to do it: phone them once a month, let the alarm go off, and see if they reply!
So my message to all of you, living with the false sense of security that ADT is just a panic button away... Test your alarm daily. Would you really risk a month without connectivity? I've not been connected for 5 months, luckily nothing happened, but it could easily have been different.
Live safe!
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