A family recently found themselves in a predicament when they were stranded next to the road. But thanks to the Tarlton police they not only received the help they needed but also a watchful eye to keep them safe.

On Sunday July 10, Lenny Selepe and her family were travelling from Rustenburg to Soweto for a family visit. They departed at 19:00. In Magaliesburg they drove through a lot of potholes.

“When we reached Tarlton we realised there was something wrong with the car as it was starting to shake and we could smell burning rubber. We stopped just after the right turn at the T-junction near Tarlton Supersave,” Selepe explained.

It was already about 21:00 and they made calls to family and friends, and they tried to stop passing cars for assistance but no one was able to assist them at that time.

My husband, the kids, my sister-in-law and I were stranded in a dark and cold place for more than an hour. Realising that it was not safe there, we very slowly drove to the nearest safest place which at that time was a building labelled Tarlton Supersave on Google Maps.”

They parked there for another hour and kept trying to get the attention of passing motorists.

“At that very moment there was a burglary on the other side of the building that we were not aware of.”

Then their luck changed when a police van passed them and heard their hooter. The van turned around to assist them and at the same time two security guards showed up from behind the building to talk to the two police members about the burglary, thinking the police were there in connection with it.

“The police officers instructed one of the security guards to stay with us before they left to investigate the burglary. They came back for us 15 minutes later.”

Selepe said the Tarlton police station members were so kind to them; they even made calls to local mechanics and later took Selepe’s husband with them to look for a nearby mechanic.

“They drove around Matshelapata looking for a willing Samaritan. They were willing and ready to drive us to our destination in Soweto should we have failed to find the assistance we needed.”

About 40 minutes later her husband and the police came back with a mechanic, Moses Morokoane, who was willing to help.

We were so relieved to see them coming back with help. It took the mechanic around 30 minutes to fix the tyre. This took place around 00:45.”

She said the mechanic was so kind and even billed them less than they anticipated so they had to add a little tip to the bill for all his help.

“We didn’t have cash to pay right on the spot. So one of the police officers was very happy to drive my husband around to go look for a nearby ATM while the other officer stayed behind with us for our safety. Unfortunately, most of the ATMs were closed so they had to drive deep into Krugersdorp to look for an available ATM. It took them about an hour to come back with cash.”

When they returned at about 02:00, the family was finally ready to get back on the road and safely reached their destination at about 03:00.

We are really impressed and overwhelmed by the kindness, the service and the efforts they made to help us. To the mechanic and the police officers who helped us, we’d like to extend our hand of gratitude to you and your families for your sacrifice and your humanity. What you did for us will never be forgotten and your good gesture won’t go unrewarded. The country needs more humans like you. God bless you.”

Selepe advised road users to try to avoid driving at night unless it is an emergency.

“Not all police officers are corrupt and bad.”