Hijack victim dodges bullet in Cape Town

Realising that his hijackers were going to shoot him, Andries Ackerman (46) saved his life by jumping out of a moving vehicle on the N2 highway near the Glentana offramp in the early hours of this morning, 24 March, in George, George Herald reports.

Ackerman, operations manager of a Milnerton-based security company, was forced to drive his attackers from Cape Town to the Southern Cape, when, nearing George just after midnight today, one of his two captors told his mate: “You must shoot him. Let’s pull off.” When Ackerman refused to stop his Volkswagen Touran, one of the men lunged at the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to leave the road.

Ackerman, who was on his way back to Cape Town when he spoke to the George Herald at 11am this morning, said he knew this would be his only chance of survival.

“I needed to make a break, and this was my only chance to get away. I jumped out of the moving vehicle and hit the tarmac hard. I jumped up, ran across the road and hid in some dense bush. I then ran off.”

The vehicle with the hijackers inside went down a steep verge after which the two men, one armed with a revolver, fled the scene. They are still on the loose.

Ackerman’s ordeal began in Airport Industria in Cape Town at about 10.30am on Thursday morning when he stopped to get something to eat. Outside the vehicle, he felt something being pushed into the small of his back, and he was told to get in and drive. His assailants forced him to drive around various areas of Cape Town, including Khayelitsha, and then they hit the road east.

They stopped at various towns along the way, including Riviersonderend, Caledon, Bredasdorp, and travelled between Mossel Bay and George twice. During these stops they refuelled, drew money with Ackerman’s card at an auto bank and bought alcohol, which they consumed along the way.

It was during their second trip towards George that they decided to kill Ackerman, who ended up battered and bruised after jumping from the vehicle, but luckily still able to run to get away.

He stopped a bakkie along the road and used the driver’s cellphone to phone one of the directors of Koreserv Security, Rod Eterman, who then alerted the police in Klein Brak. Meanwhile, the driver of the bakkie would not give Ackerman a lift, but he was picked up by a truck on the N2, who dropped him at a stationary traffic vehicle near the George off-ramp. The traffic officer took him to the police, who transported him to Mediclinic George for treatment.

Ackerman says he only had a good look at the hijacker who sat in front. “He has a totally bald shaved head and a very vivid scar on his left cheek. He was wearing a black hoodie. I guess his age at about 28-30.”

The medical scans show no broken bones or internal injuries, but he will receive follow up treatment in Cape Town.

Southern Cape police spokesperson Captain Malcolm Pojie has asked the public to be on the lookout for the two suspects who are believed to be in the George area, but not to under any circumstances confront them.

“They are armed and dangerous.”

Anyone with information can contact the Great Brak River police on 044 620 2495.

– Caxton News Service