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Cape Town - Earlier in May 2016, Wheels24 reported on a driver's quick reaction which saved them from a potential armed robbery and/or hijacking. The video was published on YouTube.
Wheels24 reader Portia Mkansi says she experienced two similar incidents and managed to get away from her assailants:
Mkansi says: The first incident happened in 2011 in Rosslyn, outside Pretoria. This is an industrial area and its abandoned at night. It was about 7pm and I was taking my friend to work. The car I was driving didn’t have central locking and my friend didn’t lock her door. I came to a stop at a traffic light.
'Skipped the red light'
On my left was thick bushes and in front was another vehicle. When I looked to my left to talk to my friend I noticed someone approaching the door and I immediately looked behind me because I wanted to reverse. There was someone crossing from the left behind my car.
READ: Hijacking in SA - Quick thinking saved our lives!'
I immediately went to the right and overtook the car in front of me and skipped the red robot (traffic light). I’ve never stopped at that robot ever again early in the morning or late at night.
Harassed in Tzaneen
READ: Grim Gauteng taxi crash stats
The second incident occurred in April 2016. I was in Tzaneen. I was leaving town and approaching the Magoebaskloof (a mountainous area). There was a vehicle flashing its lights at me. I did not stop as I was driving a car that is mostly used as a taxi (Toyota Condor).
Another vehicle approached on my right and indicated that they wanted me to stop. They were pushing me towards the right. I simply drove faster. They approached me at high speed. A vehicle at the front and another at the rear forced me to stop. In the two vehicles, there were five men.
One person from the the vehicle in front came out and told me to move to the left. I refused and moved my car in such a way that both sides of the road were blocked. Now there were vehicles everywhere and everyone was annoyed because of what was happening.
Those guys were so angry and told me "Why am I not driving like a woman?", they identified themselves as the Pilusa Taxi Association and wanted to know who was driving this “taxi”. They stopped harassing me when another man came out with a gun and told them to stop.