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AFTER reflecting on a nightmarish incident, Quinton Thambu from Raisethorpe has declared that he will be less casual when driving around town.
After returning from a nearby business trip on Friday, Thambu, with his windows down and a cigarette in his mouth, stopped at a traffic light on the corner of Hoosen Haffajee and Retief Street when two men approached the car asking for a cigarette.
“They both stuck their heads in and one asked for a cigarette while the other pulled out a knife from his pocket. Just as he was about to flick his knife I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the door, pushing the men with the door,” said Thambu.
Thambu said that he was in a complete state of shock and when he pushed the door open, the man with a knife fled while the other stood in complete shock next to the car.
“I don’t think he expected me to react in that way and when I jumped out in complete anger, swore at him and told him to ‘voetsek’ he just stood there; stunned and in silence,” said Thambu.
Thambu said that only while driving home he realised what had happened and the severity of it all.
“At the moment I didn’t think about what I was doing because I was in such a state but looking back at it, it was all very shocking. Having stayed in Johannesburg for a while, where the crime rate is much higher, I was never in this situation and you think that back home these things won’t happen to you,” remarked Thambu.
On the same day just before midnight, Thambu’s friend, who wishes to remain anonymous, was hijacked in Edendale and this time not as lucky as Thambu as the hijackers got away with his car.
“It was around 11.55 pm, I had just dropped my girlfriend off at home when two men approached me asking for a light for their cigarettes. One of them men fired a shot through the passenger side window,” said the man.
He said that after being shot at he got out of the vehicle and made a run for it but tripped in his panicked state.
“When I tripped, I got up and looked back and saw that they drove off with my car,” said the man. Keeping his identity anonymous, the man said he was advised by police to do so as further investigations will be conducted.
After reporting the incident, police found his car burned in Edendale the next day .
“Police say that they suspect that it was part of a gang ritual which is usually conducted in this way where they hijack and burn vehicles when someone dies in the gang community,” said the man.Police confirmed that these incidents are not uncommon and that they will be investigating further.
