Durban - Former ANC official Visvin Reddy’s first personal encounter with criminals has left him shaken and wondering why South Africans have to continually live in fear.
Reddy received seven stitches to his arm after being stabbed by one of five men who surrounded his Mercedes Benz car on Old Main Road in Pinetown on Monday.
The men demanded he hand over his cellphone and money.
Still in shock, Reddy said had he not moved in time, his injury could have been life-threatening.
“I could have been stabbed in the chest. I could have died,” he told POST shortly after the incident.
“Why is it that we must constantly live in fear for our lives and safety? This is not how we want to live. Prior to the incident I was speaking to a pastor about crime spiralling out of control and nothing being done. We also spoke about Indians being vulnerable and Africans feeling unsafe,” the former ANC eThekwini senior councillor said. “Something urgent must be done about crime.”
Acknowledging that he could have been more security-conscious, Reddy however criticised the Department of Home Affairs for setting up offices in inappropriate and inconvenient areas.
He was on his way to the department’s Pinetown office at the time and now wants the branch shut down and relocated as the area is unsafe.
“I want those offices to be closed and moved from there,” he said, adding that he would write to Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba.
He said that at around noon he and his wife, Sharmaine, were driving to the Pinetown office to pick up her passport but were unable to find parking.
Due to construction taking place outside and roads being serviced, a construction worker informed him there was no parking and advised finding a spot across the road.
Reddy said he stopped at a traffic light a short distance away on the busy road and his wife noticed five men walk past. She told him to close his window.
As he was doing this, all five men surrounded the car.
One shoved his hand into the vehicle and pulled out the car’s electronic key.
Another stuck his hand into the vehicle and tried to snatch Reddy’s cellular phone, which was resting on the console between the front seats.
In the process, the cellphone fell near Sharmaine’s handbag and she kicked it under her handbag on the floor.
While the one man repeatedly yelled to Reddy to hand over the cellphone and money, a third man stood nearby, the fourth stood in front of the car and the fifth knocked against Sharmaine’s window.
Wielding a knife, he demanded she open the door.
She assumed he wanted her handbag.
“Although I was scared, I somehow remained calm. I told the one who wanted my cell and the money to hold on, I would give it to him. I could see they were nervous and getting agitated,” recalled Reddy.
The next moment, he saw the man produce a sharp object, which could have been a knife or a screwdriver, and lurch towards him.
“He came at me with force to strike me but I moved towards Sharmaine and unbeknown to me, he struck me in the right arm. Then they started running away through the traffic and past pedestrians.”
Said Sharmaine: “Visvin did not even know he was stabbed. He only realised it after I saw blood drip on to his jeans.”
He managed to get out the car, which had stalled, to search for the car key that was lying on the road. He said while passers-by witnessed the incident, no one tried to help.
“No one came to our assistance. They probably know the area and could have been scared for their own safety. They just looked at us. I got back into the car and managed to drive to a doctor’s surgery in Malvern. I just wanted to get as far away as possible.”
When asked why he left his window open, he said: “Maybe I shouldn’t have had the window open, but then I think to myself, why should we do this and live life in cages?”
He said he did not know if the men wanted to hijack them or only wanted his cellphone and money.
The robbers, however, failed to notice that Reddy was wearing an Invicta watch valued at more than R15 000.
Reddy said he was now on antiretroviral treatment.
The Department of Home Affairs did not comment at the time of publication.
POST