Police in eMalahleni are keeping a close eye on a spike in vehicle hijackings in the city over the last couple of weeks with four incidents reported from March 1 to March 4.

Police spokesperson Captain Eddie Hall said it is becoming a real concern.

The first incident was reported on March 1, when a man travelling from Bronkhorstspruit to eMalahleni, picked up four hitchhikers on the N4.

• One of the hitchhikers asked the driver to drop him off next to the road near his place of work.

As the driver, with the three remaining hitchhikers, drove off, one of the men apparently took a rope, put it around the driver’s neck, and started choking him.

The driver said he was forced to stop his Volkswagen Polo and was ordered to get into the back of the car. One of the hitchhikers allegedly got behind the wheel and drove to an area the driver is not familiar with.

The driver was purportedly told to get out of the vehicle and one of the hitchhikers stayed behind with him while the other two left.

They returned a while later and picked up their friend leaving the traumatised driver behind.

On March 3 another two hijackings were reported.

• A man stopped at a friend’s house in Klarinet with his company’s bakkie. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary when he left his friend’s house, but within seconds everything changed.

The man told police when he opened the door and was about to get into the vehicle, he heard how someone cocked a firearm behind him.

According to the man, three suspects ordered him to hand over the bakkie’s keys. He did as they demanded and the trio drove off in the bakkie.

• Mr Justice Sithole shared his ordeal of when he became a hijacking victim.

“I was comming from the taxi rank where I picked up taxi permits. Close to the provincial hospital three men approached my Amarok bakkie,” Sithole said.

He said the men pointed a firearm at him and told him to get out of the vehicle and get into the back. But when he refused, they shot him twice and pushed him to the back of the bakkie.

“The men said they were going to kill me.”

Sithole saw a gap as they neared the railway line and he jumped out of the bakkie.

“I got into a taxi and the taxi driver chased after my bakkie. We, unfortunately, lost the bakkie.”

Sithole was taken to Emalahleni Private Hospital.

SAPS retrieved his bakkie soon afterwards. It was however in bad shape as the hijackers apparently bumped it.

“I just thank God that I am alive,” Sithole said.

• The next day, March 4, the fourth hijacking happened while a man was waiting for his friend on the corner of Mandela Road and Jellicoe Street.

“The man said he stopped at the robot and waited for his friend when he was approached by two unknown men. One of the men opened the door of his Toyota bakkie and told him to get out. They got in and drove off with his bakkie,” Hall said.

Hall said a hijacking can happen to anyone, any time, anywhere.

“Remember to lock doors when you are driving. Be alert and avoid being distracted. Pay careful attention to your surroundings and plan your route,” Hall advised.