Prejudiced preconceptions create blind eyes that neglect those deserving of help.
Due to personal circumstances, Karen de Goede had been living intermittently in her car. Apart from the occasional night on a sympathetic couch, a parking lot was often the place of refuge through the night. As rain bucketed down on the evening of February 15, two stragglers asked for assistance, seeking the comfort of Karen’s blue Toyota Corolla. Her good deed would be punished as she would spend the next 72 hours captive in her own vehicle.
At roughly 10:00 that Tuesday night, a couple that Karen would get to know as James and Amanda got into her car at the Wilrogate Shopping Centre, invading her makeshift home. James would take possession of the car keys, using the vehicle and Karen’s phone as if it was his own. After the ordeal, Karen would discover messages sent on her phone by James saying, “This is our WhatsApp number”.
From Wednesday morning, Karen watched as the couple used her vehicle to tour the neighbouring suburbs, going from shopping centre to shopping centre. There, she claims the couple would shoplift and harass shoppers, selling whatever they were able to attain in order to purchase narcotics. This would include several trips into the Princess informal settlement. “Every day they were injecting themselves,” said Karen, who claimed she did not partake.
The couple would keep a close eye on Karen, never leaving her unattended and escorting and returning her to the car whenever she needed the toilet. Throughout their travels, Karen claimed to have tried to signal passers-by and onlookers for help, but was roundly ignored. “I tired to make a scene and I tried to mouth ‘help me’ but no one cared,” explained Karen.
Approaching breaking point, alarm bells would start to ring in Karen’s head after they picked up a man in Princess on Friday. Saved on her phone as Thando, the couple picked up their accomplice and after going through their routine of petty thefts, found themselves cruising the streets of Silverfields. Sitting at the Wimborne Street Park, Karen heard the three muttering among themselves saying ‘get this job done’ and ‘just do it’, moments before they struck. As she sat in the front passenger seat at roughly 20:30, the man known as Thando and Amanda began strangling and suffocating Karen from behind.
Fighting for her life, Karen managed to break free, snatching her phone and sprinting for her life. Thando jumped out the car to tackle her for the phone but she managed to throw the phone over the fence of the nearby church. With that out of reach, the trio left the scene with Karen’s car and all her personal belonging that she stored in it. “All my clothes, my duvets and personal items are gone. My life was in that car,” said Karen.
Able to flag down a neighbourhood watch patroller, they arranged to retrieve Karen’s phone and she was able to get to the Krugersdorp Police Station. Her hopes for finding a place of safety there were crushed as she claimed the police at the station were less than reluctant to assist her. “They laughed at me. They said I was high, they said I was full of drugs and said I gave the car to my friends,” explained Karen.
Krugersdorp Police initially did not want to open a case, sending Karen to Roodepoort Police before being turned back to Krugersdorp. Now in the care of her sister, a case was finally opened at Krugersdorp Police but not for the reason Karen had wanted. Despite her claims of being strangled and having her car stolen, a case of ‘car taken without consent’ was opened at Krugersdorp Police. After being transferred to Roodepoort Police, the case was transferred back to Krugersdorp Police.
Desperate to have the police act with urgency, Karen believes she has all the evidence that could lead to her captors’ speedy arrest. In their arrogance, James and Amanda had saved the phone numbers of direct family and acquaintances, with all the WhatsApp conversations between them still on Karen’s phone. “I have voice notes sent from James and we also got video footage from the petrol stations we were at on Friday,” Karen said, who has resigned herself to never seeing her car again.
“The police accusations, belittlement and refusal to help and spring into action are disgusting, to say the least,” added Karen.
Krugersdorp Police spokesperson, Captain Raymond Sebonyane confirmed the incident, saying “If the complainant felt mistreated, she has a right to lay a complaint against Krugersdorp SAPS via email at complaintsnodalpoint@saps.gov.za.
