Bands of roving “road pirates” have been stalking drivers along South Africa’s main highway raising concerns for the safety of tourists visiting for the 2010 World Cup Games.
GANGS of robbers are launching lethal attacks against motorists on the R21 Highway - the main road linking OR Tambo International Airport to Pretoria.
The gangs have left a trail of terror behind them over the past three months.
Ambushes by the gangs have seen businessmen and a USAid agency employee being attacked and have left at least four motorists and a security guard seriously injured after they were shot by the robbers.
The last attack occurred last Tuesday night when a businessman was shot in the legs as he changed his car's flat tyre.
The robbers, who number between eight and 20, operate between the Tembisa Road Bridge and the N1 / R21 interchange between 9pm and 4am, with most of the attacks occurring near St George Hotel.
The robbers either line rocks on the highway or throw debris off bridges onto oncoming cars. They target motorists using the north-bound lanes.
While attacks have occurred since September, police have done little to warn the thousands of motorists who use the highway every day.
The only warning has come from the Pierre van Ryneveld community policing forum (CPF).
While police claim that they are conducting clandestine operations the gangsters seem to be operating with impunity with no arrests being made.
Businessman Jannie Schoeman recently survived an attack near St George's Hotel.
He was returning home from Midrand along the Olifantsfontein Road when he hit a pothole.
"As I stopped and got out to change the tyre two men, armed with knives, attacked.
"They stole my watch, wallet and cellphone. When I tried to escape they grabbed me and tied me up with barbed wire," he said, pointing to his scarred wrists.
The men eventually let Schoeman go, threatening to kill him if he did not reach the road within two minutes. "I was terrified. I thought they were going to kill me," he said, adding that the Lyttelton police had been useless in trying to solve the attack, which had taken place in broad daylight.
He said when he offered to take a detective to the attack site he was not interested. "It is just a matter of time before someone is killed," he said.
CPF spokeswoman, Willa De Ruyter, said they were concerned about the attacks, "especially with the sudden increase in the past weeks and the fact that the robbers did not hesitate to shoot".
She said they were aware of five attacks over the past two months, during which robbers attacked two different motorists on one night, a couple on their way home and a USAid agency employee.
The Star 19/11/09
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