With its teeming thoroughfare, the intersection at Republic Road and Jan Smuts Avenue has become notorious for its brazen smash-and-grab and hijacking incidents.
For many commuters, the use of this intersection is a convenient routine as it leads to about six neighbourhoods.
One such commuter is ‘Lucy’, whose name has been changed to protect her identity. Like many commuters, this route makes it easier for her to take her children to and from school. On one ordinary afternoon, as she was en route to fetch her children, she was held at gunpoint by two suspects on Republic Road who shouted for her to get out of her car or they would shoot her.
Meticulous about her safety, each journey she takes Lucy ensures her valuables are out of sight and placed in the boot, with her window slightly open and her phone connected to a handsfree device. She recalled how while she was on the phone, she noticed two men crossing the road in front of her car and were soon banging on her window for her to get out. She then opened her window a little more and managed to throw her phone out in hopes to draw the attention away from her and flicked the switch for her car window to automatically close. “After they realised my window wasn’t going down again they casually walked back down the road and they didn’t even run,” she explained.
Now impacted by this ordeal, Lucy has sleepless nights over the experience and can barely get behind her steering wheel to fetch her children because of it. Her incident is not the first of its kind and unfortunately, if nothing is done about it, it won’t be the last. “The next person this happens to might not be so lucky to still drive away with their life,” she said.
Lucy did contact Ward 102 councillor David Potter in the matter and felt his response was inadequate. However, in a recent article in the Randburg Sun Potter cited how this particular intersection was of great concern and he had appealed to the police to increase security.
Randburg police were approached for comment, but none was forthcoming at the time of going to press.
Have you been a victim of crime at this intersection? Do you think the community needs to come together with ideas on how to better ensure their safety at such intersections? Email [email protected] with your story or suggestions.
