Johannesburg - A Porsche driver and his passenger are being investigated after a motorist was attacked in a road-rage incident captured on video and posted online.
It isn’t something you would expect to see from someone getting out of a Porsche, but a YouTube video posted on Monday by eBlockwatch founder André Snyman shows a vicious road-rage attack on another driver.
The video clip begins with a grey Porsche stopping at an intersection in Paulshof, Johannesburg, with its hazard lights on. Then a man who emerges from it starts kicking the door of a white Volkswagen Polo Classic that stopped next to the luxury vehicle.
The man, dressed in jeans, repeatedly punches the driver of the Polo. He puts his hand into the car and removes the car keys from the ignition, throwing them as far as he can, before returning to throw more punches.
The man taking the video from the car behind then drops the phone and the video stops.
The eBlockwatch member told The Star what he witnessed at 3pm on Sunday in Witkoppen Road but asked to remain anonymous in case the road-rage attackers target him and his family.
The man said he was driving from Paulshof to Montecasino with his family in the car at the time. He noticed the Porsche a few blocks before the incident happened because it had cut him off.
“He cut me off as the road became a single lane, he almost pushed me into the traffic in the next lane.”
He claimed the Porsche also cut in front of the Jetta that was driving in front of him, and he saw the driver of the Porsche throw something out of the window at the Jetta. “I think it was a can. The driver of the Polo then hooted.”
The witness said the Porsche then proceeded to swerve in and out of traffic and slammed on brakes in front of the Polo a few times, as if he was trying to drive him off the road.
A block before Montecasino, he said the cars came to a stop at a traffic light.
“The passenger in the Porsche got out and started attacking the driver of the Polo.”
During the altercation, the witness took out his phone and recorded what was happening.
He said the video did not show the entire attack as he had dropped his phone, but the Porsche passenger kept on throwing punches.
He said the passenger then climbed back into the car and the luxury vehicle drove off.
The witness and his wife got out of their car to find out if the victim of the attack needed help.
“The driver got out and started looking for his car keys,” the witness said. “He looked disoriented and even forgot to pull his handbrake up - his car started rolling backwards.”
“ We finally found his keys and he was able to drive away.”
The man who was attacked, Andrew Watkins, said the incident was shocking, but he would not comment further because the men behind the alleged attack had approached the police through their lawyer and asked if they could make a deal.
The Porsche was traced to 42-year-old Allan Mrkvicka and when The Star tracked him down to ask what had happened, he said he did not know if he could talk, because his lawyers were dealing with the matter.
GOING PUBLIC
He wanted to know how The Star had found out about the incident and when he heard a video of the attack had been put on YouTube, he replied “Oh my God. I’m in shock”, before saying he could not comment further.
Snyman said that as soon as he saw the video, he decided to make it public as eBlockwatch believes in looking after South Africans who are not in a position to look after themselves.
“This is not the first time we have exposed bullies who beat up drivers,” Snyman said. “Years ago we helped track down a driver in Cape Town who hit a journalist.”
Douglasdale police said a case had been opened.
The Star
Update: Video footage of the incident has gone viral, reaching almost 100 000 hits on YouTube by midday on Tuesday. Viewership grew from 63 600 hits at 7.30am to 98 445 in just five hours, prompting numerous angry comments from those registered with the video-sharing site.