Tankiso Makhetha and Shain Germaner
johannesburg: A six-year-old boy has told of how he had slept in a car with his abductors for three nights after hijackers accosted him and his father before driving away with him in the car.
Mongezi Phike was reunited with his family yesterday. It had been six days since the hijackers drove off with him. He was found unharmed at a children’s home in Johannesburg.
Sitting next to his mother, Lizzie Phike, outside their home in Bronkhorstspruit, Mongezi said his father was hit on the back with a gun before his feet and hands were tied. No arrests have been made.
Mongezi said he had slept in the car for three nights with his abductors.
“They fed me bread, with chips and water. I told them I would not eat unless I saw my family.”
Feeding her son porridge outside their home – where relatives, neighbours and well-wishers were gathered to see Mongezi, Lizzie Phike said this was her son’s first meal since arriving home.
“People have been flocking here to see him,” she said.
Mongezi said his abductors eventually abandoned him in Johannesburg.
“They left me at a mall. That’s when I went into offices and told them what happened to me and my father and told a lady there where I lived. The lady in the office then called the police who came and took me to the police station, then to a place where I was with other kids.”
Mongezi’s main concern was the well-being of his father, Aaron.
The two were reunited yesterday at the Bernice Samuel Hospital in Delmas, where Aaron was being treated for the injuries he received when he was assaulted.
“God, thank you for protecting my father,” Mongezi said after seeing his father.
“I am glad that you are okay, Baba, I wanted to hit those men who did this to you.”
Aaron, 42, said he was at an intersection, preparing to turn, when the attackers jumped into his car. “It all happened very quickly. One moment I was preparing to turn, the next thing I had four youngsters in my car, two of them pointing guns at me.”
Realising the seriousness of the situation, Aaron tried to remain calm to avoid bringing harm to Mongezi.
“They instructed me to park on the side and they started hitting me,” he said.
They tied his wrists and ankles with his shoelaces and discussed killing him and his son. “I begged them not to harm Mongezi. I think one of them knows one of my older sons, Comfort, because he mentioned his name, saying that he also recognised Mongezi.”
Aaron’s left eye was bruised, his wrists and ankles “chafed”, and his left leg fractured. His life was of secondary concern, Aaran said. “I was praying and hoping that Mongezi was safe. How was I going to justify my being a father to God if my child was harmed in my presence?” Aaron was discharged from hospital yesterday.
Meanwhile, in Reiger Park, the death of four-year old Taegrin Morris, whose mother watched helplessly as he was dragged alongside her hijacked car on Saturday evening, has sparked outrage.
Residents yesterday called on President Jacob Zuma to deal with the crime situation in their community, saying they would take the law into their own hands if nothing was done.
Hundreds of residents gathered outside the Reiger Park police station in protest.
Yesterday provincial police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza confirmed that no arrests had been made, but a man had been brought in for questioning.
was the well-being of his father, Aaron.
The two were reunited yesterday at the Bernice Samuel Hospital in Delmas, where Aaron was being treated for the injuries he received when he was assaulted.
“God, thank you for protecting my father,” Mongezi said after seeing his father.
“I am glad that you are okay, Baba, I wanted to hit those men who did this to you.”
Aaron, 42, said he was at an intersection, preparing to turn, when the attackers jumped into his car. “It all happened very quickly. One moment I was preparing to turn, the next thing I had four youngsters in my car, two of them pointing guns at me.”
Realising the seriousness of the situation, Aaron tried to remain calm to avoid bringing harm to Mongezi.
“They instructed me to park on the side and they started hitting me,” he said.
They tied his wrists and ankles with his shoelaces and discussed killing him and his son. “I begged them not to harm Mongezi. I think one of them knows one of my older sons, Comfort, because he mentioned his name, saying that he also recognised Mongezi.”
Aaron’s left eye was bruised, his wrists and ankles “chafed”, and his left leg fractured. His life was of secondary concern, he said. “I was praying and hoping that Mongezi was safe. How was I going to justify my being a father to God if my child was harmed in my presence?” Aaron was discharged from hospital yesterday.
Meanwhile, in Reiger Park, the death of four-year old Taegrin Morris, whose mother watched helplessly as he was dragged alongside her hijacked car on Saturday evening, has sparked outrage.
Residents yesterday called on President Jacob Zuma to deal with the crime situation in their community, saying they would take the law into their own hands if nothing was done.
Hundreds of residents gathered outside the Reiger Park Police Station in protest.
Yesterday provincial police spokeswoman Colonel Noxolo Kweza confirmed that no arrests had been made, but a man had been brought in for questioning.