The incident, in which the two Police Protection Officers were overpowered and the minister robbed at gunpoint, involved the use of spike strips, which has been the modus operandi of highway gangs for many years.

While crime experts believe crime does not discern between normal people and politicians, most argue that the SAPS certainly does, with Yusuf Abramjee, a crime prevention activist, commenting that “it is a pity the police do so little when ordinary citizens fall victim to crime”.

Highway robbers have been leading a reign of terror against unsuspecting motorists for many years, especially along highways in the Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West areas, through means of placing spike strips or rocks across the road, and in some instances, even impersonating police officers.

Locally, spike strip incidents escalated dramatically between 2019 and 2022, with the tragic death of a young mother not being enough to spur law enforcement into action.

• In October 2019, paramedics were caught in the crossfire after a taxi was robbed on the N4 near the Van Dyksdrift off-ramp. The taxi was forced to a stop after robbers placed rocks in the road and opened fire, wounding two passengers.

While paramedics tended to patients, robbers again fired shots overhead, mere metres from the scene in an attempt to rob a passing truck.

• In March 2021, Faith Shabangu, the mother of an infant and an employee at Columbus Stainless, was killed after fleeing from the spike strip gang. After driving over spike strips on her way home at night, Faith was fatally struck by a moving vehicle while trying to flee from her assailants.

While an inquest docket was opened by the Middelburg Police Station, the SAPS said it was for the magistrate to determine whether a case of culpable homicide or murder would be investigated. Feedback on whether her murderers were ever brought to book was never received.

• Even police officers themselves are not spared, with a member of the K9 Unit having to seek cover from shots being fired on the N12 in December 2022.
The member was shot at twice, in two separate incidents, while trying to assist motorists who had fallen victim to the robbers.

The member was shot at by robbers while aiding a couple who had been robbed after driving over rocks. Shortly thereafter, the member again came across a taxi which had suffered the same fate, a kilometre apart from the other incident.

The minute he stopped to assist, the robbers opened fire yet again.

• Similarly, a member of the Flying Squad was wounded in his abdomen while patrolling on the N4 in January. Once again, the officer and his partner stopped to assist a motorist who had driven over rocks when the robbers opened fire at the two members.

Fortunately, one of the suspects was later apprehended by the Barberton Police.

• The above-mentioned incidents are only a few which have been reported locally. Numerous motorists have also come forward with harrowing accounts of being hijacked and robbed by blue light gangs.

These accounts share similar details, in which they are pulled over by official-looking vehicles geared with blue lights. The robbers, dressed in police uniforms, then drive for hours with the victims bound and blindfolded in their own vehicle until finally abandoning them in rural fields. The victims are often assaulted and threatened with death for valuables, pin codes for bank cards and more.