Motorists accosted by violent windscreen washers
Windscreen washers are allegedly threatening people with just about anything they can find at the Allum Road, Marcia Street and Albertina Sisulu Road intersection.
A Kensington resident, who did not want her name published, said windscreen washers are threatening motorists with bricks, rocks, sticks and even tyres.
The woman said, “Have you ever felt absolute dread, fear and loathing when you drive somewhere? Have you ever planned your route just so that you do not encounter an area or intersection that makes you feel uneasy? I have.”
She said the Bruma intersection makes her feel this way and she now tries to choose alternate routes due to “crude, ill-mannered, violent, glue sniffing and threatening” windscreen washers.
Speaking about the most recent incident, on August 3, the woman said she, her fiancé and brother were heading towards the highway. They stopped at the intersection.
“My fiancé, who was driving the vehicle, left a space between the car we were driving in and the windscreen washers. They still came up to the car. When he said ‘no’ they started taunting him. He told them to move away from the car. This then escalated into the filth swearing at us, spitting on the car and eventually throwing a stick at us,” said the woman.
The two men exited the car to get the windscreen washers away from the vehicle. According to the woman, they were pelted with rocks, with one rock hitting her fiancé on the back of his head. Her brother narrowly missed being struck by a metal object.
She said her fiancé did hit one of the windscreen washers, but purely to defend himself.
“This became a whole fracas, weaving in and out of traffic with the windscreen washers eventually running off through the park towards Eastgate.
“The guys climbed back into the car and as we turned right and proceeded towards the Eastgate bridge, one of the windscreen washers ran across the highway and threw a brick at the car,” she said.
She added that all this transpired in clear sight of a metro police officer.
“We stopped behind the officer and asked why he was doing absolutely nothing to assist or arrest the hooligans. He said ‘Ag man they are kids, leave them.’ He said we had an attitude. He even asked what must he do to which we retorted ‘your job’. We then left the scene,” said the woman.
She said she now has little confidence in the SAPS and metro police.
“I would not even waste my time going to the station to report this as I have little or no faith that anything will be done. I feel that I will probably be treated like the one in the wrong instead. Are they not supposed to be arrested every time they set up camp there? Are metro police officers not supposed to be there to protect us, the tax paying, law-abiding citizens, from thuggery and outlaw behaviour? Do we as South Africans need to fear when we climb in the car and stop at a traffic light, that we might be mugged, hijacked, hit, spat on, shot, raped or murdered by these ills of society? Why do we feel we need to bear arms to protect ourselves? Had we crashed, would this not be tantamount to attempted murder or even murder? What is being done about this?” she asked.The EXPRESS forwarded an enquiry to Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar. At the time of going to print, no comment had been received.
@JoziReporter
I travel this intersection every day and have never had an issue with the guys, I just show with my hand no thanks and off they go B U T get confrontational and they WILL get confrontational back to you and these guys in the article looked for trouble and sadly found it. Ignore the window washers even if they wash you window, just drive off – they are here to stay (only not there when Metro about!) so deal with it they are not going anywhere!
Babette, as a motorist who was NOT confrontational with anyone at that intersection, I have personally been harassed by window washers, for simply denying them to wash my window. It’s people like you that ensure crime prevails and standards slip, because you would rather accept shocking circumstances than do anything about it. Why even comment on this article?
I hope one day you don’t fall prey to a brick through your window or worse, simply because your method of ‘dealing with it’ is to do nothing at all.
That intersection is unacceptable. You cannot let them wash your window. Accepting their service is conceding to unacceptable standards. Giving them cash is also unacceptable. The only reason they still stand there is because soft hearted citizens support them with coin and food. One day someone will have had enough, and pull out a firearm or peppers pray. Just think about why the hell do tax paying citizens have to sit in fear at an intersection in broad day light? That is not normal. When the police fail the ones they serve (not that they understand that anyways), people will bring the Justice..
I strongly agree with Babette’s comment. People have no choice but to admit defeat. Safety is the priority and as Babette states, it is best not to be confrontational. Here are some tips that may help people to safely deal with this problem: Try to avoid the intersection if at all possible. Never shout at the window washers. Never get out of your vehicle to confront them. Never swear at them. Avoid aggressive gestures. Don’t stop too close to the vehicle in front of you (give yourself a reasonable safety gap so that you can pull out or drive forward if things turn nasty). De-escalation of a potentially dangerous encounter is the key to safety and urban survival!
In my previous comment I suggested some safety tips for motorists using the Broadway/Allum intersection. I strongly agree with the police that these washers should not be given any money by motorists. However, motorists must find peaceful methods of evading the “services” offered by the window washers. You have the right to say no and you have the right not to be intimidated to hand over money. However, you must enforce these rights in a way that will not put more fuel onto the fire. That means you must be calm and nice while standing your ground. If you swear or shout or get out of your vehicle, these washers will react with physical violence. Let me warn everybody that there exists around the Bruma intersection a belt filled with big round boulders (rocks)! This belt is only 10 metres away from where the washers are operating. So if you get out of your car to run after them you might walk yourself into a deadly trap as these washers can simply pick up one of these primitive, yet deadly projectiles and hurl it at whoever is arguing with them. So stand you ground but do this nicely. Focus on de-escalation and don’t put hay onto the fire. I hope this helps.