Cape Town – A cyclist narrowly escaped death in an attempted bike-jacking near Mitchells Plain on Sunday.
The 43-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear of his life, said he narrowly escaped after robbers fired shots at him.
“It was after 4pm and I had come home from work, I wanted to do a bit of cycling. As I approached the Jakes Gerwel footbridge, I saw a man who had a mask on approaching me.
“It was next to the road so there were cars passing by and I could not cross. He reached towards me and pointed the gun at me, which jammed.
“After that I peddled as fast as I could because his focus was now on the gun.
“He fired a shot again and this time it went off, but I managed to cycle away from him, narrowly escaping death,” said the cyclist.
This incident comes as three other cyclists were held at gunpoint and robbed of a bicycle in Hood Road, Belgravia.
Four suspects allegedly threw bricks at them and hit one of them, breaking his nose and cheekbone.
Mahdi Kariem, 58, said they were cycling along the road on Saturday morning when two of the suspects pretended to be joggers.
The suspects later demanded R1 500 to release the stolen bicycle.
Pedal Power Association chairperson Steven Hayward said: “It’s tragic that these incidents happen and are on the increase.
“The only thing we can recommend is for people to use busy routes in numbers and spread out.”
Cape Times