Alarm as gangs target cars in Pretoria CBD

“The next time it is your car. Remember this is Africa.” This was the threat made to a Pretoria legal bookkeeper by a street gangster, a member of one of a number of gangs terrorising early morning city motorists stuck in peak hour traffic.

Monday’s attack on Yolandi Kriel, whose husband’s legal secretary was attacked several weeks ago, is one of dozens to have occurred on motorists on their way to work through morning traffic in the city centre since the beginning of the year.

The attack, carried out by gangs targeting women motorists, occurred as Kriel, who works for a firm of Brooklyn attorneys, sat in her car on the corner of Andries and Struben streets waiting at a traffic light. “It happened so quickly. My window was slightly open when a man walked up to me and said ‘Hi madam’ and demanded my cellphone and rings. He said he had a gun and was going to kill me if I did not listen to him. He was extremely arrogant and when I gave him what he wanted, he threw my cellphone back at me.

“When I demanded my rings, he told me that the next time he would take my car and told me to remember that ‘this is Africa’. The next moment he walked off. He just turned around and walked away, calling someone who was close by.

“I couldn’t believe it. I was shaking. I was so scared,” she said.

The attack on Kriel comes two weeks after Pretoria News motoring sub-editor Laurette Bredenhann was attacked twice on two different days while waiting at an intersection in Paul Kruger street between Struben and Bloed streets.

Bredenhann said the first attack occurred as she drove to work.

“I had stopped at a red light, when a man appeared at my open car window, looked me straight in the eyes and demanded my cellphone. He was calm and was serious when he demanded my phone threatening to kill me.

“When I saw he had nothing in his hands I refused.

“He carried on threatening me but I refused to give him my cellphone and started hooting until he ran off.

“I was so angry that when I was threatened by another man who had a knife, I grabbed his hand, forced the knife out of his hand and closed the window.

“Even after I did this, the guy did not run. He just calmly turned around and walked away,” she said.

Police spokeswoman Sergeant Anne Poortman confirmed the city had a problem with gangs targeting motorists.

“We are addressing the problem using both undercover and uniformed police members, but it is difficult to catch all these people although we are making arrests.

“Last year, when the problem first started, we made a number of arrests, with those suspects awaiting trial. But now there is a new group of criminals targeting city motorists,” she said.

Poortman said several groups were operating across the city. They specifically targeted women motorists, stealing jewellery and cellphones.

“The gangs usually operate in twos or threes on Paul Kruger, Struben, Proes, Andries, Boom and Vermeulen streets. While the gangs have usually not been violent, the use of a gun in the latest attack makes us worried and we fear that the violence behind the incidents could escalate,” she said.

Poortman said they would be viewing CCTV footage from the city’s surveillance systems to see if they could link those from the latest attack to any other attacks.

She urged motorists to keep their valuables, such as handbags, locked out of sight and to drive with their windows closed when travelling through the city centre.

Anyone with information on the gangs can contact the Pretoria Central police station sector patrol vehicles on 071 675 6427, 071 675 6428, 071 675 6429 or 071 675 6430.

Robbery hotspots:

* Struben Street

* Andries Street between Proes to Vermeulen streets

* Paul Kruger Street between Boom to Vermeulen streets

Modus Operandi:

* Gang usually waits for victims to stop at robots, walking around the vehicle before one forces his way into the car grabbing possessions and then fleeing. - Pretoria News