Two women hit tyre spikes on City of Mbombela outskirts
The women did not open cases with the police due to a lack of evidence, as visibility was limited.
Incidents of tyre spiking are resurfacing on the N4, but this time, it is hitting rather close to home.
Two women narrowly escaped the hunting ground for would-be robbers who set up spikes on the N4 off-ramp towards Halls and on the R538 near the Sasol filling station within a period of four days.
In the most recent incident, which occurred on the R538 on Monday, Marieta van Schalkwyk was driving a Toyota Hilux at 19:20 when she suddenly felt one of her front tyres bursting.
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Keeping her composure, she managed to outspeed a vehicle that had pulled up behind her when she stopped to investigate. “I tried to drive in the yellow lane so that they could pass, but instead the other passenger got out of the car and started running towards me. I sped off to the nearest filling station,” Van Schalkwyk said.
She called a family member while the staff at the garage helped her to change the badly damaged tyre.
On August 12 at 21:00, Aimee van der Watt had a similar incident when travelling on the N4 near Halls.
In her case, she escaped unscathed, thanks to a motorist who had noticed she was driving slowly, followed by a BMW with four male occupants waiting for her to come to a halt. When the motorist turned around to offer assistance, the BMW sped off.
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“I noticed I had flat tyre just after the bridge at the N4 off-ramp, but I didn’t want to pull over as it was dark. I wanted to stop where there was light, so I kept on driving until I noticed a car following me. When the passer-by turned around and asked me if I needed assistance, the car following me sped off. My tyre was totally fleshed out and if they did not stop, I am sure I would have been hijacked,” she said.
Neither Van Schalkwyk nor Van der Watt opened any cases due to a lack of evidence, as visibility was limited.
Meanwhile, a provincial police spokesperson, Brigadier Selvy Mohlala, said no recent cases of tyre spiking was reported to any police across the province. He urged motorists to report it, however, so it can be investigated.
“Some perpetrators had been arrested before for tyre spiking,” he said.
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