POLOKWANE – A local car sales consultant was in for a nasty surprise when a test-drive with a prospective buyer turned into a hijacking, which left him robbed of his personal belongings.
Willem Potgieter of Mudiba Motors says in the late morning of September 14, a couple approached the dealership with the intention of buying a vehicle.
They were assisted to test-drive their first option, and according to Potgieter, he suspected something was amiss once they got into a second vehicle.
“The woman said she was feeling sick, but insisted that she and her husband really wanted to buy a vehicle and that she would brace her sudden illness.”
After the second vehicle test-drive, we were supposed to turn back to the dealership but the man insisted that he wanted to get a feel of the car somewhat more and his wife also wanted to drive.”
A few kilometres on the man brought the vehicle to a halt and the woman got in the driver’s seat.
“She clearly wasn’t an experienced driver and struggled to get the vehicle into first gear. She then decided to get out of the vehicle and just as she stepped out, she seemingly started feeling ill again,” Potgieter said.
At this point, the man also alighted from the vehicle, seemingly distracted by the situation his wife found herself in.
“But the next moment, he pointed a gun at me and told me to hand over my belongings, which I did. They left me at the side of the road having to look how they drove off with the vehicle.”
Potgieter started running back in the direction of the dealership to alert management of the situation. “The police were alerted, and some officials came to take a statement. My manager suggested we involve the Central Business District Association to assist in locating the car.”
Hamid Salman from the association told Polokwane Observer that when they received the information, they immediately circulated the vehicle registration number and details of the car.
“It was spotted in Dahl Street a few hours later, but the driver managed to get away at the time. It was only a few weeks later when he was suspected of selling stolen goods at a scrapyard, that we found him again.”
Potgieter says they are fortunate to have retrieved the vehicle and that management has already put measures in place to prevent a similar incident.
“Clients will be properly searched when entering our premises. Thank you to everyone who assisted in getting the man arrested. This shows that if a community works together, we can eradicate crime.”
The police could not immediately confirm if an arrest was effected.
