Shirley Aldum, now living in Cape Town, was attacked and her car was stolen outside her then home in Johannesburg. Now she's found a way to fight back.
The attack was about five years ago but she recalls that here attacker seemed to come "out of nowhere" when she stopped her car in her home garage.
"He stuck a gun in my neck. I screamed. He said 'Shut up or I'll shoot you'."
She was dragged out of her car by her neck and then out of the garage where the man questioned her rapidly but quietly under a security light. A second man, she realised then, had an AK-47 trained on her from the bottom of the driveway.
Her attacker asked if anyone was at home.
"I appealed to him not to shoot me. He said he wouldn't if I told the truth. When he realised I was complying with his demands, he was quite calm."
By then his armed companion was reversing her car out of the driveway, rifle still pointing at her through the open driver's door.
Satisfied that her husband was not at home and that the dogs were locked up, her attacker hurled her to the ground before leaping into the moving car and disappearing as suddenly as he had arrived.
It all happened in Johannesburg just before Aldum and her husband were due to move to Cape Town. Now she is responsible for safety and security at the Rondebosch Community Improvement District office and describes herself as "passionate about security".
Aldum was at a hijack-prevention workshop for women in Sea Point, Cape Town on Saturday. She explained in an interview that the main message she would take away reinforced what she had already learned - the vital importance of vigilance.
"Unless you are alert and very aware of what is happening around you while driving you are going to end up as a hijack statistic," she said.
Kevin Smith of the VW Driving Academy, which presented the workshop in association with Cosmo magazine to about 100 women, expanded on this: "Being aware of events around you and your vehicle puts you in control."
He said the common perception that the hijacker "appeared out of nowhere" could be attributed to drivers generally being oblivious to what was happening around them. He stressed the need to appraise realistically the possibility of becoming a hijack victim: "Remedial action doesn't work in a hijacking. Take preventative action.
"Assess risks. Look out for suspicious items around or under your parked car. Be aware of what is out-of-ordinary or suspicious on familiar routes."
Some of the causes
He quoted a member of the British armed forces as saying: "The greatest weapon in a hijacker's arsenal is your belief that 'it will never happen to me'."
Smith added: "Ask yourself: do you recognise hijacking as a reality or do you think it only happens to other people?"
Factors contributing to the high incidence of hijacking countrywide included lack of work, drug addiction, gang membership, easily accessible guns, the absence of social safety nets and modern society's reluctance to take responsibility for the well-being of others, Smith said.
"There is no particular reason; they all work together. It is a chain of events."
Hijackers struck at road junctions, in shopping centre car parks, at gates or in domestic driveways, on business premises, while drivers loaded or unloaded passengers, and even on freeways.
They were most successful within five kilometres of a victim's home.
"Why? Because you're in your comfort zone, where you do not assess your potential risk," Smith said.
Bogus breakdown
Hijacking gangs usually numbered two to six, one of them a leader: "It's a military situation, not a random event. They are trained and not afraid of witnesses."
They sometimes enlisted women to create a false sense of security around a bogus breakdown.
"A woman with a baby approaching you from her nice car to ask for help is often well-dressed and seems respectable. Aren't you going to get out of your car to attend to her needs?"
All makes of cars were hijacked, some more than others: "Any car is potentially going to be hijacked. Certain cars are in demand for parts.
"Just ascertain which taxis are predominantly out there and you'll know which cars are needed for parts."
'Check your wheels
Smith recommended befriending a regular car guard at a local shopping centre who could help while loading shopping. But there's more you can do...
"Check around your car for sharp objects near the wheels - something could have been placed there for you to drive over. Hijackers in a following car know you'll stop soon with a flat tyre but don't stop - drive on to a safe place."
Hijackers frequently remove a number plate then followed the intended victim.
"You are followed and asked to pull over by somebody waving your number plate. You get out of the car, he gives you the licence plate then drives away in your car."