YET another person has fallen victim to the increasing crime levels in Van Riebeeck Park, but thanks to his alertness and quick-thinking, Jan Horn-Du Plessis managed to avoid being hijacked.
It was a normal morning like any other when Horn-Du Plessis left his home on Magaliesberg Street on August 15. But something he noticed made him slightly uncomfortable.
“I usually leave between 5am and 5.10am. When outside, I can usually see car lights from vehicles driving down the street reflect on our neighbour’s wall. This time there was a particular set of lights that weren’t moving,” Horn-Du Plessis observed.
“This made me uneasy as it was unusual that the lights were stationary.”
Horn-Du Plessis went on his with his business, got into his car, locked the doors and put on his seat belt. As he reversed out of the driveway, he continued watching the gate and saw that the set of lights were still not moving.
“As I came out of the gate, I checked right and left. As I did this, I saw a figure running towards the car, wearing a light t-shirt.”
Horn-Du Plessis then realised there was another man, dressed in dark clothing, running in front of the one dressed in a light top.
“If it wasn’t for the guy dressed in the light clothing, I wouldn’t have seen the one running ahead of him.”
The criminals had parked their car behind a tree on the pavement. There was a third man waiting inside the car in the driver’s seat.
The one in the dark clothes pointed his gun towards the car, trying to pull the trigger but something went wrong and luckily no shots were fired.
“Then he got frustrated and started banging the passenger window with his gun while the second one ran behind the car coming towards my side. It was at this exact moment I realised I had to think quickly and do something very fast.
“I put the car into first gear and drove back into the yard with screeching tyres.”
Once inside, the brave man hooted loudly to attract attention and also distract the thieves.
In the meantime, inside the house, Horn-Du Plessis’ mother-in-law and his life partner, Nico, heard the tyres and hooting and immediately pressed the panic button.
“Luckily, our bathroom is right by the driveway. I could hear everything and as soon as Jan hooted, and with the noise from the screeching tyres, I knew that something wasn’t normal,” Nico said.
All the noise caused the thieves to panic. They just stood by the gate for a few seconds before running away.
Nico called the police, who arrived in less than 10 minutes. They drove around to see if they could find the guys, who were driving a white hatchback vehicle, but to no avail.
“We are all just relieved that nothing bad happened. If those criminals had gained access to the house, Lord knows what would have happened. It would have been really bad,” Nico said.
Jan was told by the police officers who attended to the scene that it was not necessary to open a case, as no one was injured and there was no damage done to the car.
But Norkem Park SAPS spokesman, Capt Lesibana Molokomme, said this was not true and the victims were welcome to open a case of attempted hijacking.
“The policemen on duty should have offered the victims to open a case if they wished to do so. An internal investigation will be conducted to determine why the policemen gave such information out.
Since the incident, they have started becoming extra vigilant before leaving the house, and have adopted a few safety measures first, such as checking the outside of the house before driving out.
The neighbours have also cut down the tree behind which the criminals hid. The police and PHS Cops have also started patrolling a lot more in the early hours of the morning.
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