AN Empangeni couple is thankful to be alive after they were hijacked at gunpoint on the driveway of their home on Wednesday night.
Parents of three, Theresa and Roy Singh, were returning to their Armstrong Avenue home after visiting a family member in hospital when they were ambushed by two unmasked gunmen at around 9pm.
‘We usually stop just inside the gate and get out to lock it again,’ said Theresa.
‘My husband got out and I heard him shout. As I turned to see what was happening, my door was yanked open and a gun was pointed at my head.’
What followed was a scene from a horror movie.
‘I remember giving them my handbag and Roy gave them the keys. I told them to take everything, but to please not harm us,’ she said.
It was when one of the men opened the back door of the Toyota Corolla and told the couple to get in, that Theresa thought her life was over.
‘I thought they were going to kill us then for sure.’
They were told to keep their heads down and not to make any noise as they were taken on a ride through Empangeni they will never forget.
‘They kept asking us if we had a tracker in the car, and I remember from safety courses I have been on that we had to be truthful and not try and be clever or brave.’
The gunmen also told them they had a ‘gadget’ that could check if there was a device, and if they found one, the Singhs would be killed.
Dark drop-off
The couple were dropped off in a field near Weightman Avenue and told to get down on the ground and not to get up until the men had left.
‘They earlier took all my rings and jewellery, but gave it back.
‘They also returned my handbag but took our cellphones.
‘One of them said to me, ‘Mama, don’t cry. Stop crying’, and I could hear the tone in his voice was less harsh.
‘Then they just left us there.’
Theresa told the Zululand Observer that throughout the ordeal, she feared more that she would be raped than killed.
She said she also thought of her children and her granddaughter.
‘My one son is emigrating to New Zealand next week.
I remember thinking that I never had a chance to say goodby to my children, and that they would have to go through the trauma of a funeral before going overseas.’
They managed to speak to a homeowner through an intercom system at the gate of a house nearby, and the police were summoned.
Theresa says despite the ordeal, she harbours no ill feelings towards the men who so dramatically upended their lives.
‘I am not angry. After all, they took material things that can be replaced.
‘My husband and I are just thankful to be alive.’
Spokesperson for Empangeni SAPS, Captain Mbongeni Mdlalose, confirmed that a case had been opened but no arrests had been made.
Captain Mdlalose also confirmed that another hijacking had taken place near Enseleni, also on Wednesday night.
According to official crime statistics for Empangeni the number of carjackings spiked by 114.6% between April 2015 and March 2016, with a total of 88 cases reported compared to 41 cases the previous year.
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