Couple stranded after car stolen at Sheffield Beach

A trip to the beach to watch the waves left a Johannesburg couple high and dry.

Brian Black and his wife parked their son-in-law’s dark grey Toyota FJ Cruiser on Barrier Lane just off Colwyn Drive, Sheffield Beach, and were looking at the sea.

“I walked down to the beach and my wife opted to stay in the car. My wife then got out of the car and stood next to it, with the key still in the ignition, when two men in a white car pulled up right next to her,” said Black.

The men were armed with a knife and a gun. One of the men got out of the white car, jumped into the FJ Cruiser and both cars sped away within seconds.

“It all happened within about 30 seconds. I could see and hear my wife screaming from the beach but I could not get there in time,” said Black.

The car was later spotted at the Ballito Junction centre but then disappeared. The car was not fitted with a tracking device, which makes it very difficult to be found. The couple had been attacked before in Johannesburg and the incident brought back all the traumatic memories.

“We had a very difficult night last night,” said Black.

As well as losing their car, they will also have to replace credit cards, identity books and driver’s licences.

Umhlali SAPS Lt Col Dieter Fittkau said this was not a hijacking, but rather vehicle theft.

“Hijacking is when the person is forced out of the car before it is taken. They were not actually in the car and therefore this was vehicle theft,” said Fittkau.

He once again cautioned the community against inciting panic by the spreading of incorrect information on social media.