A 64-YEAR-OLD man was brutally assaulted over what is believed to be rage over his slowness at an electronic boom gate at the Chartwell Drive Centre. The attack was so severe that the elderly man lost his hearing aid during the assault, said Lt Raymond Deokaran, spokesman for the Durban North SAPS. The alleged assault took place on Monday at about 6.40pm.

“What we believe happened was the elderly man and his wife were attempting to exit the centre, which is controlled by an electronic boom gate. His wife, who was driving, stopped out of reach of the ticket machine and a driver behind them became impatient with waiting. When they eventually put the card in, the boom gate wouldn’t open.

“One of the men behind the couple got frustrated and irate and attacked the 64-year-old. He was struck mainly in the face and forehead and the force of one of the blows dislodged the man’s hearing aid. We have the registration of the vehicle involved in the alleged assault and are conducting further investigations,” he said.

Deokaran urged motorists not to take the law into their own hands and to cool the emotional temperature on the roads.

The incident follows another assault on Burnham Drive in La Lucia where a woman was assaulted for allegedly walking her dogs on her neighbour’s verge.