Hours after arriving in Durban from Cape Town for an aunt’s funeral, André Chetty was held at gunpoint and shoved down an embankment by robbers, who went on to steal his father’s Mercedes Benz.
Chetty, the head of quality assurance in the City of Cape Town, said it had taken him a few moments to comprehend he was about to become the victim of crime on Thursday evening, and obliged when the masked gunman demanded he hand over the keys to the car.
He said Cape Town had its share of gangsterism and shootings, but Durban had become synonymous with frequent and violent hijackings.
Relating what happened, the bachelor said: “I arrived in Durban last Thursday to attend my aunt’s funeral the following day.
“My sister picked me up from the airport and we went to her home to pick up her 21-month-old son, her mother-in-law and a relative as we were going to attend a prayer at my late aunt’s home in Berea.
“I drove to the complex and waited for them to exit the vehicle. After I parked, I checked that the car was locked and was about to walk to the building’s entrance when a white Golf with tinted windows pulled up behind me.
“A man wearing a hoodie and a mask got out and held a gun to my head. He asked for the keys to the car. He instructed me not to look at his face.”
Chetty said he put both hands in the air to show he had no intention of fighting back and asked the man not to shoot. He took out the key from his pocket and handed it to the hijacker.
The gunman then pushed him down an embankment. “It was quite steep. I brushed into trees and rubble before coming to a stop.”
He said he contemplated calling his relatives on his cellphone, “But I did not want the light from the phone to distract them in the dark and for them to shoot at me, so I waited.”
After the gunman and his accomplice drove off, he called for help.
The car was recovered the following day in Bonela.
Chetty, who moved to Cape Town six years ago, said his luggage and laptop were taken.
A case of carjacking has been opened at Mayville SAPS.