NATIONAL NEWS - Residents from Centurion had a close call when thugs attempted to hijack them on Friday evening around 21:20 not far from their residence in The Reeds.
Kunjulwa Garrine (43), a single mother of two boys, was travelling home in her Mercedes Benz, when she suspected she was being followed. Her 12-year-old son was also in the vehicle.
She said she had already called her 15-year-old son, who was at home, to open the gate. They did this as a standard safety precaution for her not to stand stationary waiting outside the gate at night.
“I thought that if it were hijackers, I better not drive to my house, and pulled over a couple of houses away from ours in order for them to pass. Instead, they closed me in.
“A man armed with a firearm got out of the passenger’s side and approached me. He pointed the weapon at me and indicated with it that I should get out. I heard my son say, ‘Mommy, we are being hijacked,” she related.
“I opened my door, willing to give up the vehicle, but then I realised my son still had his safety belt on. And I thought what if he doesn’t get out of the vehicle soon enough and they drive off with my child?”
Garrine said that was when she decided to drive away. Her door, which was still open, struck the thug while she managed to reverse away from them, and drove up another street. She later managed to obtain footage of the incident from a security camera in the area.
“By God’s grace, we escaped. But my son looked through the back window of the car, yelling ‘drive, Mommy, drive, they’re coming’.”
She said she drove to the Engen garage in Panorama Road where she informed the cashier of the Quick Shop that they had almost been hijacked. The woman pressed the panic button.
“In the meantime, I phoned my neighbour to inform him of what had happened and to go and check whether my son at home was okay.
“My neighbour has just called me back to tell me that my son was okay and that he was on his way to the garage to come and assist me, when the hijackers walked into the shop.”
She said they have however arrived in another vehicle, a Mazda.
“They walked to the back of the shop to the fridges, probably looking for us, because they must have seen my vehicle parked outside. But we just kept our composure and they left.
“The security company and my neighbour arrived, and accompanied us home.”
She said police arrived at her residence about an hour later to take her statement and a case was opened at Wierdabrug police station.
The police were yet to comment at the time of going to press.
“We’re doing okay,” Garrine said, “although I used to be vigilant, I am now extra vigilant, especially when I drive.”
