‘It is horrific’- Pretoria N4 road trap robbery victims tell of recent ordeal

“I feared for my life,” victims of a recent N4 freeway road trap robbery in the east of Pretoria said as they recounted their recent nightmare.

Pretoria resident Koketso Ramalebana said she, her husband, Mosa, and two family friends had been driving on the N4 around 21:20 on October 9 when they drove over a rock-like object that severely damaged a tyre.

“The tyre burst and we thought the rim cracked because there was a huge sound.

“Initially, we thought it was not safe to stop but there was another car that had stopped with people outside not too far from us and so we stopped,” she said.

“My husband went out to check the tyre damage and a man in VW Polo came to assist us. As they were talking, two men came out of the dark bushes.”

Ramalebana said the two had guns.

“One cocked the gun, pointing it at my husband and said ‘give me your phone’ and my husband did.”

She said the men also robbed their male friend of his phone.

“They then came to us two ladies that were seated at the back, and asked for our phones but there was a bit of confusion.

“It was dark and we did not know where we had placed our phones. They became aggressive shouting ‘I want the phones, I want the phones’,” Ramalebana said.

The financial advisor said the robber then took her handbag.

“They manhandled my friend, touched her breasts as they were looking for the phone but they could not find it.

“One robber then came to me shouting ‘I want money’ and I asked him if he had the bag. He then said to me ‘I will shoot you’.”

She said although their robbers spoke SeTswana their accent had a foreign element showing it was not their home-language.

The robbers then went on to raid the red VW Polo behind them, she said.

“The man who stopped to assist us left his car keys in his ignition but the robbers did not take the car, only his gadgets.”

Ramalebana said after their ordeal they drove on the flat tyre to safety.

“We drove to Savannah Country Estate and the security guards there told us that we were lucky nothing was done to us, physically. They told us that a man was shot twice a week before in a similar robbery on the N4.”

While there, she said her husband took out his laptop from the boot to check his iPhone.

“The phone was at Bronkhorstspruit Road – not on the road but in the bushes not too far from us. We then lost the signal.”

She said they drove to Silverton police station after attempts to call 10111 failed.

“What made this whole experience more horrific was when the police told us of these tragic murders that happen on the freeway. There was one incident of a pregnant woman who was shot.

“I asked what was done to address this, they told us they patrolled on Friday and Saturday and there were no incidents. They thought it was a quiet week only for criminals to pounce on motorists on Sunday.”

Ramalebana said her husband’s phone was switched on again the following day in Pretoria CBD, in Jeff Masemola Street.

“During the eight minutes that the phone was switched on, my husband received a call from a Nigerian guy who said strange things. My husband asked him about the phone and he said he did not understand, so he hung up. My husband’s phone was switched off after that.”

Ramalebana said she did not have much hope in police recovering their belongings as the case was closed on October 10. She said she merely hoped that the road trap crisis that continues to be a threat to motorists’ lives could be solved. “No one is safe, our lives mean nothing to those robbers.”

After Rekord’s inquiry, the police reopened the case.

The “good Samaritan” driving the VW Polo that stopped to assist the Ramalebanas was Matome Mashamaite, a forensic investigator at SAPS.

“I had stopped to check if the people in the car were safe because I heard the sound and saw smoke after they hit something on the road,” Mashamaite said as he recounted the robbery.

“I came out and greeted the driver, as I was about to tell him that we were in a danger zone, two guys one with a shot-gun and another with a pistol came out of the bushes and ordered us to lie down.”

He said he pretended to lie down and as the robbers were talking to the driver, he crawled to the other side of the road to try to get help.

“I told myself they would rather shoot me while I sought assistance because I have witnessed things done to the victims.

“What came to my mind were the killings I’ve seen and I knew I needed to think fast.”

Mashamaite said he tried to stop other cars on the road but no one stopped.

He said at Solomon Mahlangu Drive circle near Silver Lakes a taxi stopped and dropped him in Hatfield where he managed to get a diplomatic police car that took him back to the crime scene.

“They phoned other police for back-up and we went to the crime scene. We found my car with the keys but the other car was already gone.”

He said the robbers took his phone, laptop and clothes.

“SAPS managed to lift fingerprints off my car after I went to the police station to report it.”

The father of one, said: “I feared for my life, that is why I ran to seek assistance because I know what they are capable of”.

Mashamaite said he believed there were more robbers than the two that came out of the bushes.

“As I sought help on the road, four other cars stopped and occupants of one told me that they were also robbed.”

Police spokesperson Warrant-Officer Isaac Mculu said police were investigating the armed robbery on the N4 freeway between Simon Vermooten Street and the bridge.

Mculu said the police were determined to solve the road trap crimes that continue to put people’s lives in danger.

He said the police patrol the hotspots.

“This is one of the first incidents we have had in months and we will conduct more patrols to ensure the community’s safety.”

Mculu conceded that road trap crime a big issue in Pretoria.

“We are working hard at arresting these people,” he said.

Previous cases of road trap shootings:

– In May, Wynand Vos (30) was killed during a rock trap robbery on the N4. Two cellphones were taken.

READ MORE: Man killed for two phones during N4 rock trap

– Also in May, Juandre Kidson (25), who was travelling with his wife and nine-month-old baby, was shot in the head after he had driven over rocks on the N4 highway near the Brits Plaza tollgate.

READ MORE: No arrests as man killed in N4 highway rock-trap travelling with nine-month-old baby and wife

– In February, three men were injured when two minibus taxis were shot at during a road trap robbery near Skierlik informal settlement in Boschkop.

ALSO READ: Taxi drivers, passenger shot in another Boschkop road-trap incident

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