Publications
Partners
Victims of a vicious "cycling rage" attack at a Western Cape nature reserve are still traumatised after a motorist allegedly tried to run them over before a car load of men assaulted them.
"I am contemplating going for counselling," said Brendon Jacobs after an irate man turned on him and Jandre du Raan in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve near Stellenbosch.
The bizarre turn of events on January 13 started when Du Raan went over a pothole and Jacobs cycled next to him to check if there was any damage to his bike.
The two were on a training ride and the road was clear. Suddenly a man in a blue car hooted at them, and so Jacobs moved behind Du Raan to be in single file.
As the driver passed, he shouted at them and the cyclists shouted a retort.
"We did shout at him because he nearly took us out," said Jacobs, adding that there was no oncoming or other traffic at the time on the road and the driver could have passed them easily.
Suddenly the driver made a U-turn and headed straight for Jacobs. They skimmed past him and then turned around and headed for Du Raan, also making as if they would ride into him.
"I just froze. I feel bad because maybe I could have done more, but I just froze," said Jacobs.
To make things worse, Jacobs said another vehicle pulled up "out of nowhere" and three men jumped out and started hitting them with rocks and sticks.
Two women also got out of that car and shouted at the three men to "leave him, leave him".
Jacobs said another motorist, who they called their "Good Samaritan", later approached them and this seemed to make the man in the blue car and the men in the other car back off.
In the meantime, the man in the blue car also grabbed his phone away from him. Yet another "big man" stopped to see what was going on, and managed to calm the situation, and Jacobs' phone was handed back.
However, when they went to report the incident, the police seemed to want to settle the matter privately, Jacobs said.
He insists that the police must investigate the matter and take his statement because he believes there was an attempt to murder them.
"I have kind of healed from my injuries, but obviously there is still a lot of trauma," said Jacobs, who added that he did not sleep a wink the night after the incident.
He said Du Raan did not get back on his bike yet and was still bruised.
Police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said they were investigating.
"Please be advised that cases of reckless and negligent driving and assault [with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm] were opened for investigation with no arrests so far."
