Imagine the horror of being hijacked while on your way home with a friend, then being abducted along with the car and dropped off at a remote location.
This happened to *Daniel and *Thabo on Saturday just after 3pm in front of their workplace on Sim Road in Pomona.
Four armed suspects in a white BMW X5 approached them.
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• When hijacked, remember this
Sec Pros operations director, Gerald Groenewald, said Daniel was dropped off in Vosloorus, while Thabo was taken to Johannesburg city centre. Both were found in due time, unharmed.
Thabo was forced into the hijackers’ car, while Daniel was instructed to remain in the vehicle that was being hijacked.
Groenewald said the incident was witnessed by a truck driver, employed by one Daniel.
“The truck driver pressed the Sec Pros panic button when it was safe to do so. A reaction officer responded and immediately informed the control room to mobilise Sec Pros’ anti-hijack team,” Groenewald said.
Having trouble obtaining details of the victims led to complications in the tracking process, and the anti-hijack team had no valuable information, except for Thabo’s cellphone number.
“Through digital tracing technology the team started using the phone’s Google account to trace it. This signal was sent to various tracking, law enforcement and security agencies. Luckily, further interviewing of the truck driver cracked the case.”
The witness informed them that Daniel’s trucking fleet, including the hijacked vehicle, was registered with a vehicle tracking company.
“After making contact with the tracking company to activate its tracking units, ground crew and further air unit support were mobilised to find the hijacked vehicle.
“Moments later, news came through from an operations platform that the hijacked vehicle had been recovered, but it had been stripped. Another call came in from the tracking service provider that the driver of the hijacked vehicle was dropped off in Vosloorus.”
Thabo, who was dropped off by the hijackers in Johannesburg, met an Uber driver who picked him up in the CBD and brought him back to the scene.
Upon arrival he gave his account of events.
Kempton Park SAPS spokesperson, Capt Jethro Mtshali, confirmed the incident.
“We confirm that a case of hijacking and kidnapping is currently being investigated by the Ekurhuleni District task team.”
No arrests have been made.
*Not their real names
