MBOMBELA – A man who was hijacked last Saturday died from wounds inflicted by the hijackers, on Friday. This after one of the alleged hijackers also died in an accident while driving the stolen vehicle.
Lowvelder reported last Tuesday that an alleged hijacker died after having been involved in an accident on the road between Low’s Creek and Barberton last Sunday. Police informed Lowvelder that they were investigating the possibility that one of the vehicles involved had been stolen during a hijacking on the Sabie-Lydenburg road the previous day.
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The victim of the hijacking, Mr Ben Van Wyk (53), died in Rob Ferreira Hospital on Friday night after having suffered extensive injuries during the attack the previous Saturday.
According to Mr Marius Jacobs, a relative of Van Wyk, he had stopped at the second traffic circle on that road that morning, apparently to buy something from a roadside vendor. Another family member, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that Van Wyk had been on his way to Brondal. He said that a man had been standing next to the road, indicating to Van Wyk that he wanted a lift.
“When van Wyk stopped, two other men suddenly appeared from the bushes and overpowered him,” the family member said. Van Wyk was forcefully removed from his bakkie and dragged into the bushes where he was severely assaulted.
“It was brutal. He was stabbed with a sharp object, kicked in the face and hit,” Jacobs said. The second family member said the suspects took Van Wyk’s cellphone and wallet and discovered a bank card inside.
“They tortured him for the pin number,” Jacobs added. Once they had this, they left Van Wyk for dead and went to the city with his bakkie to withdraw cash. “He gave them the wrong number and when they couldn’t withdraw money, they returned to the scene,” Jacobs continued.
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However, Van Wyk had lost consciousness and they left again, probably thinking he was dead. Van Wyk only regained conciousness later that evening and heard voices around him. “He thought he might have been taken to some sort of informal settlement nearby,” the second family member said. He screamed for help and an ambulance was summoned to the scene.
“It was obviously dark and Van Wyk was seriously injured, so he couldn’t supply us with more details about who had helped him,” the second family member added.
Van Wyk was taken to Rob Ferreira Hospital where he was treated for his injuries.
“He would have been discharged on Thursday, but experienced a sudden setback. He had trouble breathing and was transferred to ICU where he passed away at 22:20 on Friday,” Jacobs said.
Van Wyk’s bakkie was involved in an accident at 06:00 the morning after it had been hijacked. The bakkie was in a head-on collision with a taxi. The driver of the taxi was declared dead on the scene, while the driver of the bakkie, the alleged hijacker, was freed from the wreckage with the Jaws of Life. He sustained a serious head injury as well as various fractures and was airlifted to Rob Ferreira Hospital. He died later that day from his injuries.
Capt Dawie Pretorius, spokesman for Nelspruit police, on enquiry said that the case has been transferred to the police’s Vehicle Investigation Services Unit. He referred the newspaper to provincial police spokesman Col Leonard Hlathi, who could not be reached at the time of going to print.
Van Wyk has three daughters – Magdeleen, Karin and Benita.
