Rangers chief ‘feared for his life’ as armed robbers held gun to his head
My daughters have been held up too, says tycoon who may quit South Africa
RANGERS chairman Dave King has told of his terror after a gun was held to his head in a robbery outside his office in South Africa.
Mr King, 64, said four men wearing balaclavas forced him to hand over valuables including an irreplaceable watch worth thousands of pounds.
The Scot said he is now considering leaving his adopted homeland for good because he believes it is too dangerous.
Mr King said he was arriving at his office in Johannesburg with his security guard and office manager when they were ambushed from behind.
‘There were four guys who had guns and were wearing balaclavas,’ he said. ‘One of them pointed a gun at my head and another took my watch off my wrist... It was in broad daylight and they were completely brazen.’
The watch was a collector’s item Patek Philippe but Mr King said it was clear that resisting the gunmen would have been a mistake.
He told The Times: ‘I was scared for my life. I said to myself, “Let’s not be brave and let’s not be stupid. Whatever you do, don’t agitate them”.’
Mr King added: ‘One of them said, “Where’s your money?” So I took all my cash out and gave it to them. They took my laptop, my case, my driver’s licence, diary, phone and all the things I need to function.’
He said of his stolen watch: ‘I wouldn’t be able to get the same one again. I can’t replace it but I was just glad that I was alive and able to go back to my family.
‘Afterwards there was a growing anger within me. I was angry about the violation and that I am living in a country which no longer appears to have a rule of law.
‘Both of my daughters have been held up at gunpoint recently, one time while my grandchild was in the car. Crime is absolutely out of control here. It’s a pandemic.
‘My sons have moved to London and half their friends from school and university have gone too. Young people, both black and white, who should be the future of South Africa, are leaving.
The Glasgow-born businessman is due to step down as Rangers chairman next month after being in charge at the club since 2015.
He said in November: ‘I would not step down if the club continued to need my services and support, but it doesn’t.’
He also said of the club: ‘It’s the best financially and operationally that it’s been since I first got involved 20 years ago. I think we’re in a really good place right now.’
One of seven children, Mr King has spoken of his policeman father Tom’s instinctive dislike of football due to the crimes which arose from it.
He once recalled: ‘My father wasn’t at all keen on me becoming a Rangers supporter. He was a
Glasgow policeman and because of that he resented the whole football scene in the city.
‘He was actually very antifootball. When we were kids growing up, he was very vocal on his dislike of the bigotry in football. The police in Glasgow at that time saw it as a basis for thuggery.
‘He saw what it did from a crime and disorder point of view in Glasgow. And, as a family, we were taught to reject the whole bigotry aspect surrounding football. That has stayed with me through the years.’
When he left school he worked for Weir Pumps and was transferred to South Africa, with very little cash, in 1976.
‘I planned to spend a few years here, make some money and return to Scotland,’ he once said. ‘But one thing led to another.’
He married wife Ladina, had four children and, by the 1990s, was a multi-millionaire hobnobbing with sporting royalty. One of his best friends is golf legend Gary Player.
He made his mark in the business world first as an adviser to the South African Reserve Bank and later by setting up the Specialised Outsourcing company.
Before taking control at Rangers, Mr King settled a £44million bill with the South African tax authorities after admitting 41 charges of contravening income tax legislation. He said he was now considering whether he should stay in the country.
He added: ‘The lifestyle is very good here. I’m sitting here in the sun and it’s beautiful, but you are now constantly looking over your shoulder. My mood just now is
‘Let’s not be brave or stupid’
that my kids and grandkids should not be being brought up in South Africa. It’s something the whole family is reflecting on.’
South Africa’s parliamentary committee on policing has described the rising crime rates as ‘unacceptable’. Its chairman Tina Joemat-Pettersson warned that the ‘trajectory of crime’ could not be allowed to continue at its present rate. A total of 21,022 people were murdered between April 2018 and March 2019, the equivalent of 58 every day.
In the same period there were 732 murders in the UK, which has a similar size of population.