Imagine pulling into your driveway after a long day’s work, and being ambushed by a gang of armed men.
They point guns at you and shout for you to get out the car.
As horrifying as it is to think about, this scene happens every day in South Africa.
Hijackers often target residents in their own driveways.
Sometimes, they dress as police officers.
Other times, they take a license plate off your car and pretend to be a Good Samaritan following you to give it back.
Most often, they will force your car off the road or simply force you out with brute force.
Their methods may vary but the result is often the same, a stolen car and a serious case of Post-Traumatic Stress. Sometimes, lives are lost.
Most hijackings occur between 16:00 and 21:00.
According to Tracker, a company specialising in the recovery of stolen vehicles, most incidents happen in driveways as people are arriving home.
Many occur in broad daylight and even in peak traffic.
On August 4, Mr Johannes Thabiso stopped his car in front of his driveway gate in Pine Ridge and got out to open the gate manually.
“I don’t always open the gate manually, but its motor was stolen last week – so I didn’t have a choice,” Thabiso explained.
Upon opening the gate and turning around, Thabiso found himself face-to-face with two strangers wearing balaclavas around the bottom half of their faces.
They pointed a revolver at Thabiso, and demanded that he give them his cellphone and car keys.
“What was I supposed to do? You don’t argue with a man holding a gun, so I just gave him everything,” Thabiso lamented.
As he handed over all of the assets he had on his person, one of the suspects fired off a shot from the revolver, missing Thabiso by inches.
“I’m just lucky to be alive. As soon as they had my stuff in their hands and the moment the gun went off, they jumped in the car and raced off. At least I am alive,” Thabiso concluded.
