Nonhlanhla Ndlovu
Pretoria - A Bolt driver and his passengers have opened cases against one another with the police in Pretoria.
Passenger Hendrik le Roux and his friend Francois Myburgh have accused the unnamed driver of assaulting and robbing them.
At the same time, the driver claimed the two men tried to hijack him.
Myburgh said that on October 31, he placed an order for a cab to fetch Le Roux from Marabastad to take them to a fuel service station on Van der Hoff Road.
As seen on video footage they shared, a few e-hailing cabs approached him at the pick-up point.
The 36-year-old said that on the way, the driver of the cab started making calls to friends, and the next thing he knew, another vehicle pulled up next to them.
“I realised I was in danger when a VW Polo pulled up next to us. The two men started making a lot of phone calls, and they called Francois and asked him to send them his location, which he did; he thought maybe we were getting lost.”
When the vehicles reached Myburgh at the Van der Hoff Road point, they grabbed him and dragged him inside the boot of one the cars and then drove off to an undisclosed location, the two men said.
Both were then forced out of the boot, and a large group of men proceeded to severely assault Myburgh, punching him in the face, striking him with glass bottles, jumping on his body, and stepping on his face, the two said yesterday.
The group then went on to remove his belt, with which he and Hendrik were thrashed so severely that the buckle became loose.
“They were hitting us everywhere on the body, and they were laughing while doing so. I could smell they had drunk alcohol,” Le Roux said.
He added that he was bleeding and slipping in and out of consciousness because the men allegedly jumped on him, as he and Myburgh lay on the grass, covered in petrol, and hearing threats they would be set alight.
But no fire was lit as the group started arguing and one of them left, saying he could not do this.
The remaining members of the group then demanded money from the bleeding men.
“The driver took my credit card and we drove to an ATM to withdraw money even though I had told him I did not have money in the account.
“He came back frustrated and grabbed a wheel spanner. Then he ran towards us; he was angry and he wanted to hit us, but he was stopped by his friends,” Le Roux said.
He added that the Bolt driver began to panic, then took them to Hercules police station, where he changed the whole story and accused the two men of an attempted hijacking.
However, there was no evidence of hijacking on the video the men had, obtained from the service station.
When Myburgh and Le Roux tried to tell their side of the story to the police, they were told to “shut up”, they said. The men claimed they were held at the police station overnight and released the following afternoon.
While still in police cells, two additional unsuccessful attempts to withdraw R100 and R150 were made from Myburgh’s account.
The two were eventually released, and in the company of Le Roux’s brother, returned to the police station and filed a case of assault, attempted murder, hijacking and robbery against the Bolt driver and his friends.
Police spokesperson Colonel Noxolo Kweza said they had registered two cases related to the matter.
“The police have opened an attempted hijacking case against two suspects who were arrested for allegedly trying to hijack a Bolt driver.
“The case was taken to court and was temporarily withdrawn with some instructions to follow up by the investigating officer. Once this has been finalised, the docket will be presented to the prosecutor for a decision.”
She said another case, of kidnapping, against the Bolt drivers, had been opened and “an arrest is imminent on the matter”.
The “emotionally and physically injured” Myburgh and Le Roux said their constitutional rights and human dignity had been violated during the attacks and when arrested, and they would follow their case through as they had evidence to back it up.
Bolt e-hailing service, in response to questions on the matter, said they had internal measures to ensure that their clients were safe.
“In case of any emerging issue, we will always provide assistance to both clients and drivers. Be informed that for every complaint that we receive, we take it as a high priority and we work as soon as possible to have the issue resolved.
“For the case you have mentioned, please follow up with the person who raised it. Feel free to get back to us in case you have any further queries, comments, or concerns.”
Pretoria News