They will give you a cup of coffee and a cigarette to calm your nerves as they rob you. They are Johannesburg's axe gang.The gang has been linked to 10 home invasions in the city's Blairgowrie suburb since February. Ninety percent of their victims have been pensioners.Until recently, some of the gang's victims described their robbers as "gentle" - although other victims were simply too traumatised to speak to the media.Sources say the robbers sneak into properties at night and wait until their victims fall asleep.In the early hours of the morning, they make noises to lure the victims outside.Said a source: "Once outside, the householders are threatened with an axe and tied up."The robberies usually last three hours, with the gang taking highly valuable but small items such as jewellery and cash."They are said to explain to their victims why they're robbing them. Sometimes they offer advice on how to improve home security."The source said: "These are the strangest criminals we have ever dealt with. Sitting with and chatting to victims, asking victims for keys to let themselves out and then closing the gate, locking it and putting the keys back inside."Lara Bath, head of the Linden Community Policing Forum under which Blairgowrie falls, confirmed that the robbers had until now been relatively "gentle".But, she added: "One of their [recent] victims was badly injured when he tried to fight them off."She said that, unlike other robbers, they remained in their victims' home for hours."They offered several victims coffee and cigarettes to calm them."She said in one of the robberies they gave their victim advice on electric security fences."One of the victims was given back her laptop when she told them it had important documents on it. But this might have been because it was old," Bath said.She said the robbers carefully selected their victims."They target pensioners, who are soft targets, don't have money for hi-tech security features and are easy to overpower."She said they feared the attacks would become more violent."One of the robbers has been arrested but they apparently have a new member, who appears to be aggressive."Captain Alex Vermaak, of Linden police station, said the police hoped the recent arrest of the gang's suspected leader would end the attacks...