Taxi driver attacks biker with a panga
"He was yelling: 'you white man, you boer I'll kill you' while wielding the panga back and forth."
A young man escaped with his life after he was pursued by a taxi driver and beaten repeatedly with a panga.
Frikkie Gouws was driving along Barrett Road.
Photo: Bianca Pindral.
He was in the right-hand lane when a taxi swerved in front of him and the taxi’s mirror hit his handlebar covers.
They swore at each other, he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw no damage to the taxi, so he drove on. At the intersection of Voortrekker and Barratt Roads (the weekend robot) he stopped near the front line between two vehicles.
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“Suddenly, out of nowhere, this guy came up to me and started hitting me with a panga,” Gouws said. “He was yelling, ‘you white man, you boer, I’ll kill you’ while wielding the panga back and forth. He struck the visor of my helmet and I realised he’ll crack it if I didn’t do something. I then shut the full-face visor and shielded my face with both arms. Luckily I had arm and elbow protection so he was hitting against plastic.”
The assailant continued to strike his bike with the panga, hitting dents in the back cargo box.
“The most terrifying part was that none of the people around me tried to help me. This guy could have slit my throat while everyone was watching.”
The assailant then disappeared, leaving Gouws rattled, his bike damaged and his brand-new helmet with scrapes.
Only when he looked back he realised that he had been attacked by the driver of the taxi whose mirror he had just accidentally hit.
An upset and confused Gouws drove home, realising how lucky he was for wearing protective gear that afternoon.
Photo: Bianca Pindral.
But, this wasn’t his first encounter with assailants and it will definitely not be his last. About two years ago Gouws was almost hijacked. He was driving towards Little Falls Christian Church and when he stopped, two armed hijackers appeared and held their firearms against him.
“I was so lucky that they didn’t pull the trigger because I would have been a goner,” he said. “Lucky for me they couldn’t get the car and I escaped. Soon after BCI Security had caught them, I identified them in a lineup at the Honeydew Police Station.”
On both occasions he was very lucky to escape unscathed, but now he doesn’t want to take chances. He, like thousands of other South Africans will be arming himself to avoid being defenceless should he be attacked for a third time.
“I want to warn the public to be vigilant. Look around you when you stop. Check the pavements for movement, make sure you have an escape route and make yourself used to being ready to either fight or flee.”
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