According to the Carletonville police, the first incident happened on the N14 near the farm Holfontein on 10 January. A man was driving his silver-grey VW Polo hatchback from Taung to Krugersdorp at around 10:00 when he suddenly saw a vehicle flash blue lights at him.
Just as he stopped, three men jumped out of the other vehicle and ran towards him. They overpowered him and took the keys to his car.
The hijackers pushed him into the back of his vehicle and later dropped him off in Randfontein.
In another incident, a police officer from Khutsong became the victim of a hijacking on 13 January. As in the first instance, this incident took place in the light of day. What made it even worse was that it occurred in a street used by many people – the extension of Grundling Street between Carletonville Extension 9 and the Carletonville Mall.
The police officer was on the road in his private red VW Polo TSI when the white car in front of him stopped dead in the road at approximately 12:30. Suddenly, another car stopped right behind him.
Two men jumped out of the second car and ran up to him. One pointed a firearm at him and forced him into the back of his car. They drove towards Randfontein with him and dropped him off near Westonaria.
In another incident, a couple from Silver Street in Carletonville had just arrived home in their VW Polo when hijackers struck at approximately 01:40 on 14 Jan- uary. They had just pulled into their driveway when a light blue Toyota Corolla stopped in the street near them.
Two men jumped out of the Corolla and ran towards them, wielding firearms.
The husband grabbed his wife, pulled her out of their car and got out of the way of the hijackers. The thugs jumped in the Polo and sped off.
In yet another reported incident, a man told the police he was driving in Station Street in Carletonville at approximately 22:00 the same night when his car got a flat tyre. As he was trying to charge the wheel, three bystanders came to help him.
They later allegedly hijacked his Renault Stepway SUV and dropped him off near Westonaria.
The damaged vehicle was later recovered in Mohlakeng near Randfontein.
Another hijacking occurred in Julius Nyerere Street in Khutsong Extension 5 on 15 January. A Mozambican national from the area had parked his Toyota Hilux double cab bakkie in the street near Three Men Car Wash at approximately 20:00.
He left his three friends in the vehicle and walked over the road to a woman selling chicken feed. While the resident was walking back to his vehicle, two armed men ran up to him. They were almost immediately joined by three accomplices, who also jumped into the vehicle.
The Sotho-speaking suspects forced the resident into his vehicle and drove with him towards Deelkraal. They pulled into the veld and told him they would only release him if his family paid them R800,000.
The victim phoned his uncle, who said he only had R10,000. The victim was released after the uncle came to drop off the money close to where they were parked.
The police are investigating cases of hijacking, kidnapping and extortion following the incident.
Another incident took place in Spaniel Street in Blybank on Sunday, 16 January.
A man and his wife had just arrived home at approximately 01:14. After she got out to open the gate, two unknown men confronted them. One of them pulled out a firearm and fired a shot into the air.
The thugs pulled the woman out of their Kia Sorento SUV and then tried to pull the man out. The thugs shot him in the stomach when he tried to resist.
They took off with him still in the vehicle but it got a flat tyre just after turning onto the road between Randfontein and the P111.
While the hijackers were trying to change the tyre, mine security personnel stopped at the scene. Luckily, the hijackers fled the scene. The victim was taken to Lenmed Hospital.
