Confusion regarding latest rock throwing incident

A social media frenzy and much confusion followed the latest reports of a rock thrown at a vehicle on the N2 this afternoon (Thursday).

Westbrook resident Aliza Cilliers told the Courier she was driving on the N2 towards the airport when, about 400m south of the tollgate, a rock smashed through her passenger side window.

“I did not see who threw the rock, I did see some men on the side of the highway – but there are always people hanging around on the side of the road there,” Cilliers said.

Cilliers said she did not stop, with the recent attack fresh on her mind, but turned around and drove home. She met with her husband and went to Umhlali police station where she opened an incident report.

Following the incident, Cilliers shared a post on Facebook about her experience.

“I shared something on my personal timeline, I really did not expect it to get so much attention,” she said.

The Courier spoke with captain Vinny Pillay, who spent the afternoon tracking Cilliers down to find out about the attack. However, the confusion arose from the fact that she said she’d already been to the station. Pillay had also since shared a message saying he could not confirm the source of the reports and that no case had been opened.

Cilliers told the Courier there had been some mix up, but that she was not certain about the exact procedure when opening a case.

Meanwhile, Pillay said the cause for the mix up had been found and that it had merely been a case of miscommunication.

“She was at the station and she did open an incident report, however incident reports are primarily for the purposes of insurance claims and we receive literally hundreds every day,” Pillay explained.

Fortunately Pillay did manage to track down and speak with Cilliers and the confusion was cleared up. He said she had agreed to return to Umhlali SAPS tomorrow (Friday) to make a statement so that police could open a formal docket.

He said they were sorry for the misunderstanding.

“We know that it can be frustrating, but we ask people to remember the difference between opening a case and making an incident report. If you are uncertain or if anything serious happens to you, you can contact me personally,” he said.

Pillay said there was no reason yet to suspect a link between today’s incident and the attack that killed a pair of siblings on the N2. 16-year-old Amina Haffajee and her brother Abdur (7) were killed when a rock bigger than a soccer ball was thrown at their vehicle from an overhead bridge last week.

Since the attack a massive reward of over R250 000 has been offered for information that will lead to a successful conviction of the culprits.

If you have information regarding either attack, or to report a serious crime, contact captain Vinny Pillay at 073 310 0103.

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