A routine Uber ride in Kilnerpark took a horrifying turn when a teenager was brutally assaulted by the driver, who used a wheel spanner to attack him following a dispute over the fare.

According to the teenager, who wants to remain anonymous out of fear, the attack happened at 20:22 on Tuesday evening.

The teenager claims the Uber driver refused to follow the designated route shown on the app to avoid toll fees and chose an alternate route.

“Upon reaching my destination, I handed over the owed fare, but the driver became aggressive, demanding an additional R100.”

He said his friend, a 16-year-old girl, was waiting for him outside in the street where the driver dropped him off, and she was with him when the assault happened.

“I did not have extra money and the driver started assaulting us.”

He said the driver allegedly grabbed him and pushed him to the ground, stomped on his head, and yelled, “I want my money. Do you want me to kill you?”

In an attempt to de-escalate the situation, the teenager transferred R40, which was all he had left in his bank account, but the driver claimed not to have received it.

“I tried my best to calm him down; he did for a few minutes after I told him to give me his back details so I could send him money. I proceeded to send him R40, which was everything I had left in my bank account, but I am unsure what happened because it left my account. He said it was not showing in his, so he started again, and then told me to call someone for money.”

“He got the wheel spanner out of the boot, and I told my friend to run home. The driver started beating me up with the wheel spanner. He also hit my friend and damaged her phone.”

The teenager tried to distract the driver from the girl’s house, started walking in a different direction, and yelled for help.

“I started yelling for help at the houses; the driver sped away. I waited a few minutes to make sure he was gone.”

A local security company, Kilnerpark Security (KPS), was contacted for assistance, and they responded quickly.

They took the teenager to the Villieria Police Station to open a case of assault.

Despite reporting the incident to Villeria Police Station shortly after the attack, officers allegedly refused to open a case, instructing the teenager first to seek medical attention.

According to police spokesperson Warrant Officer Johan van Dyk, the officers claimed that the teenager appeared under the influence of alcohol, and that is why they provided the teenager with a form to be completed by the hospital.

Both teenagers denied these claims, stating they were at home before the incident and did not drink.

Kilnerpark Security confirmed that they have no knowledge of the teenager being under the influence of alcohol, and nothing of its sort was in the report.

Pretoria Rekord tried to obtain comment from Uber, but they have yet to respond.

Pretoria Rekord spoke to the Uber driver on Monday, who was aggressive and demanded the details of the victims. He confirmed that he was the person in the photo and the driver of a red Renault Kwid with the registration number involved in the incident.