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A driver, who transports blind and partially blind clients for The League of Friends of the Blind (LOFOB), is receiving counselling after being targeted during a hijacking attempt.
LOFOB executive director Shahiemah Edwards says services to their clients have severely been disrupted as staff face a very real threat.
“Vehicles transporting blind children and adults are subjected to hijacking attempts. LOFOB aims to help blind people become independent functioning individuals in society and provides the transport service free of charge to our clients as they cannot afford to pay for transport.
“We call on law enforcement agencies such as police; Metro Police, Traffic and Law Enforcement to be more visible.”
In a recent hijacking attempt on Tuesday 20 February, Edwards explains that four balaclava clad men approached a LOFOB vehicle filled with clients.
“This is not the first time a LOFOB vehicle was targeted. The vehicles are clearly marked indicating it is transporting blind people.
“When the driver collected clients in the Khayelitsha and Harare area, he saw four men approach with balaclavas. Some of our clients are completely blind and others partially sighted, one client told the driver just to remain calm.”
Luckily, the driver sped away before the men could reach the vehicle.
“We have two drivers, one who collects children and the other adults, and they go into high-risk areas.
“The driver was terribly shaken, and the sad thing is he has since said this job is not for him, he was traumatised and needed counselling.”
In separate incidents, LOFOB vehicles were stolen and set alight.
“Many years ago, they stopped the driver and took the van from him, at the time there were two children and a mom in the van...they set the van alight. In another incident, our van was hijacked.”
Since the latest incident, LOFOB services have stopped operating in high-risk areas.
“We don’t want clients to lose out on their training so we are looking to do things differently. We hope to get our clients to sleep in our hostels
“Most of the hijacking incidents happen in Khayelitsha because unfortunately most of our clients come from those areas.”
Edwards explains how the incidents have placed emotional stress on drivers, impacting their ability to collect clients.
“The emotional stress of staff could lead to a reluctance to go into townships to offer services. Social workers and occupational therapists provide a valuable home service but this will come to an end if the danger to such professionals continues to exist.
“It is the responsibility of police and other law enforcement agencies to ensure the safety of our community.”
