Police have warned motorists to be vigilant and plan their trips carefully, avoiding driving after dark where possible, after three hijackings took place in and near eMalahleni in a week. All three victims were driving the same make and model vehicles.

The latest hijacking incident took place in Old Coronation, eMalahleni on April 27. The victim was shot and is currently recovering in hospital.

On April 22, two Toyota Hilux GD6 bakkies were hijacked on the N12 close to the Delmas off-ramp.

According to Captain Carla Hartley, police spokesperson for Delmas SAPS, a man was travelling towards Johannesburg from eMalahleni on the highway when he was stopped by a white vehicle with a blue light on the roof.

“After stopping, three men in police uniforms approached him. They told him to co-operate and got into his vehicle. He was forced to the back seat. They drove off with him and tied him with cable ties,” says Hartley.

The victim was taken to a mealie-field where he was forced to lie down. The men took his cellphone, laptop and bank cards.

In his statement, the victim says that while he was there, the men brought two more victims to join him.

Hartley confirmed that a mother and her 12-year-old daughter where hijacked at almost the same time as the first victim.

They too, were travelling on the same road and the same direction when they were stopped by a vehicle with a blue light on the roof and a siren.

The woman told police that a man in police uniform asked for her driver’s license after she stopped. While she was looking for her card, the man reached into the car and unlocked the doors. A man dressed in plain clothes with a police mask then got into the car.

The woman was forced to the back of the vehicle where her daughter was seated. Their heads were covered with their clothes and their hands tied behind their backs with cable ties.

Hartley says the women were taken to a mealie field where they noticed another Toyota bakkie parked and a man lying on the ground.  The mother was searched and her bank cards and cellphone were taken.

The men allegedly forced the victims to open their banking apps and provide their pin codes.

According to Hartley the men started stripping the vehicles, it is suspected to look for tracker units, before driving off and leaving the victims behind. They walked to the nearest road, where they got a lift to Etwatwa Police Station.

Police spokesperson in eMalahleni, Captain Eddie Hall, says it is important for drivers to be vigilant, especially at night following, the recent increase in hijackings.

“The hijacker has the element of surprise. Plan your route carefully, avoid driving at night and if you suspect that you have become a target, drive to your nearest police station,” Hall says.

He said that if you are confronted by a hijacker, the first thing to remember is that your life is worth more than your vehicle.