Friday, 20 January 2012
Highway hijack nightmare
‘You can have anything you want, but please just don’t hurt the children.’ This was the desperate plea of two sisters, one a Mtunzini resident, when they were hijacked and taken hostage at gunpoint on the N2 Zinkwazi bridge on Tuesday, with their father, the Mtunzini sister’s two young children, aged two and four, and their child minder. After a day’s shopping at Gateway in Durban, the two sisters drove to the Zinkwazi bridge where they met their father, who was to take the Zini family home. While they were off-loading groceries they were approached by three black males. ‘One pointed a gun in my face and I froze,’ said the sister who lives in Westbrook.
‘They told us to all get in one car and my sister’s four year-old son was left sleeping in the other. ‘We begged them not to leave him there and while the one who appeared to be the leader just swore and shouted at us, saying he did not care, one of the other men went and fetched the boy. ‘He carried him carefully and even strapped him into the car seat. ‘It was then that I had a glimmer of hope that they might not murder us.’
The suspects tore recklessly down the N2 with the whole terrified family on board.
Taking the Inyoni off-ramp the suspects drove into the plantations.
Fear
‘I have never seen fear in my sister’s eyes like that. ‘We had no idea what their plans were. Were they going to rape and murder us?’
The men searched their wallets and demanded the credit cards ’pin numbers.
The leader left with their cards, leaving the two others to watch over them. ‘We begged them not to hurt us. ‘Amazingly we stayed calm, we tried to talk to them and told them about our lives and asked them about theirs. We wanted them to identify with us and see us as humans. ‘After an hour the hijackers said they were leaving to check on the leader’s progress and we were to stay in the car.
’
After five minutes the terrified group decided to take the children and make a break for it while they could.
They made their way to the N2 and flagged down a passing vehicle. ‘Many people drove past us, but eventually an African man named Goodman became our good Samaritan. ‘He let us use his phone and waited with us until my sister’s husband arrived from Mtunzini. ‘We are so grateful they did not harm us. ‘You never imagine that something like this can happen to you.’