While dropping off a friend in Mew Way, Khayelitsha, at 9am on July 1, I was startled by two armed robbers who held us up at gunpoint and demanded money, cellphones and firearms.

While dropping off a friend in Mew Way, Khayelitsha, at 9am on July 1, I was startled by two armed robbers who held us up at gunpoint and demanded money, cellphones and firearms.

Some believe that an armed response to this type of tyranny will only escalate the violence. Not so - an armed response actually diffused the attack.

The attackers were very well organised. They even had a hidden armed guard covering them during their attack - they were not your average hoodlums.

Don't expect any help from the local community. Most law-abiding citizens don't have firearms, only the thugs do.

So you cannot expect unarmed citizens, who saw everything happen, who fear for the lives of their own families to be of any help in catching or identifying the perpetrators of the crime.

The only person who can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

Instant response to a life- threatening situation is always best. The police cannot be everywhere all the time to protect you.

A taxi full of witnesses expressed what I think most South Africans feel when the good guys fight back. As they drove past, waving and thumbs-up signs were the order of the day.

Charl van Wyk, Glosderry