Durban - A Sharks Board diver was stabbed eight times in a hijacking on Tuesday as she returned home to Malvern from work at 10.45pm.
Ntshovelo Shibambu, 23, from Limpopo, had attended evening classes and then visited her boyfriend when she was attacked by two men at a stop street in Malvern.
“The road was quiet and there were no cars following me; nothing suspicious,” she said in an interview from a relative’s home on Wednesday.
She slowed down as she approached the four-way stop just after going under a bridge.
“I checked on the left and, as I checked on the right, I heard a big boom on the window.”
One of the hijackers then jumped into the bakkie. The men had a gun and a knife. “I was confused as they kept swearing at me. They also slapped me,” she said.
She was stabbed five times in her right thigh. “As I turned back, trying to protect myself, he stabbed me on the right shoulder. I turned back again and he stabbed me on the left shoulder. He then opened the door, dragged me out of the car and kicked me while I was on the ground,” she said.
The two robbers then made a U-turn before racing off in her VW Amarok bakkie. Battered and bruised; her screams for help going unanswered, Shibambu was left to fend for herself for about 20 minutes.
“There are a few houses in the area, but no one answered when I shouted for help. Two cars drove past without stopping. I called 10111 but they couldn’t confirm the address,” she said, adding that the Malvern police station was “five minutes away”.
Eventually, a paramedic drove past. He did not stop either, but came back with police to assist. “I couldn’t get either his name or contact details to thank him for what he did for me,” she said.
Shibambu was treated on the scene before being taken to hospital. She said the attack meant she would not be able to do her job for some time.
“The doctor told me I won’t be able to dive for a few months… I’ve become paranoid. I’m not comfortable in this area, but where do I feel safe if I can’t feel safe right next to a police station?”
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said police were investigating a case of hijacking. No arrests had been made. The bakkie was recovered about an hour later in KwaDabeka.
The Mercury