Mr Mandla Ngwenya says he went to buy sand for plastering unaware of the initiation school in the area.

He parked at the mine and as soon as he got out of his car, he saw a group of men storming him.

“My brother and I fled for our lives on foot, we could strongly sense that things were about to get very bad for us if we stayed,” Mr Ngwenya told the Middelburg Observer on Monday.

Mr Ngwenya says that when they returned to his car, an enormous amount of unnecessary damage was done to the vehicle.

His starter, radio, side boards and other expensive accessories were ripped from the interior while the exterior of his car was also badly damaged with scratches to the body and the front fender and grille violently torn from the vehicle.

“The damage amounts to more than R50 000, it’s beyond repair,” Mr Ngwenya says.

Apart from the excessive damage to his car, the initiates also stole his cell phone, two spades and other belongings from the car.

The incident follows closely on a similar run in with the same initiates during which off-road motorcyclists were attacked, beaten and ordered to pay a R2000 ransom fee for the release of one motorcyclist and his motorcycle on May 20.

Read more here: Joyride turns into horror experience

The motorcyclist and his bike was only released when the random fee was paid.

“This is clearly not a black and white issue, I’m a black man with immense respect for my culture, I simply wandered into the life threatening situation like the motorcyclists had done,” Mr Ngwenya complains.

“How can the initiates attack members of the public so ferociously and cause thousands of rands in property damage without being held duly responsible for these crimes?” Mr Ngwenya asks.

Mhluzi police could not be reached for comment on how the investigation is progressing before print.