Johannesburg - A video of window washers attacking a Joburg motorist has caused outrage on social media, with many calling for serious action to be taken to protect motorists.
The footage, taken by another motorist, was posted online by the Facebook group The Intelligence Bureau SA at the weekend.
It shows a group of window washers in Bruma assaulting a motorist through the driver's window of the VW Golf he was travelling in.
In the video, the men are seen hitting the driver with an object while some of them kick the vehicle a few times.
The footage has been shared several times on social media sites since it was uploaded to YouTube on Friday.
It has been met with shock and horror - with scores of people demanding that police rid the streets of window washers.
One of the people who commented on the post was Jeanette Claassens Gaitskill, who wrote on Facebook: “I use that road every day and the Joburg metro police department have roadblocks in that area at least twice a week, but they do nothing about the window washers. I guess the window washers can't contribute to JMPD’s bonus fund!!”
Others said they had now been forced to take their own action by travelling with pepper spray and other items to protect themselves.
This attack comes a week after another motorist, Prin Naidoo, was attacked by window washers in the same area.
Last week, Naidoo wrote on Facebook that he was lucky to survive after being stabbed numerous times in the head by a window washer at an intersection in Bruma.
The post said, in part: “The guy provoked me and the Chuck Norris in me kicked in. Unfortunately for me, I did not see the guy behind who stabbed me in the head three times with a screwdriver.”
In a bid to combat window washers and other vagrants attacking motorists, the JMPD, together with the City of Joburg, launched Operation Ke Molao last year.
However, a few months after it was started, JMPD spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said it was “difficult to make arrests as these people are not classed as criminals”.
@Karishma_Dipa
The Star