Eleanor Momberg
5 October 2008
The outcome of the investigation into why a Johannesburg metro policeman this week ignored rocks placed across the N1 highway by criminals who later ambushed and killed a motorist will be known on Monday.
Arren Mahabir, 32, of Northriding, was travelling to Durban with his fiance, Valesh Naidoo, 31, early on Thursday morning when their car hit rocks placed across the highway between the William Nicol and Malibongwe off-ramps, bursting one of the tyres.
The couple stopped to inspect the damage and were accosted by four men, one of whom shot Mahabir. The robbers fled with the couple's belongings.
Mahabir was buried according to Hindu rites in Durban on Friday.
A Benoni motorist told The Sunday Independent that he had also hit the obstruction on Thursday morning and was changing a tyre on his car when a metro police vehicle drove past, threading its way through the debris without stopping.
The motorist said he had hit the rocks after being distracted when he saw two cars, parked on either side of the highway, flashing their hazard lights.
In July, a Johannesburg woman reported that her husband and two colleagues were attacked and robbed in a similar early morning ambush on the N14, near the Petroport.
An object had been placed in the right lane of the highway, which their car hit, triggering the inflation of the car's airbags.
The woman's husband was able to call her for help before the three men were attacked by four armed robbers. The robbers pushed the men down an embankment and tied them up before demanding their bank-card PIN numbers at gunpoint.
Three of the attackers left in their own vehicle to see if the bank cards could be used, leaving their accomplice to guard the victims. The robbers moved their victims' car to a spot where it would not be noticed by passing motorists.
The woman said that when she approached the scene, she spotted her husband and his colleagues.
"Immediately, I called an emergency number but, before I could get through, my husband (who had seen my arrival and was worried that I would be taken hostage as well) and his two colleagues came running out of the grass, jumped into the car and I sped away, leaving the lone gunman hiding in the vicinity.
"They had a lucky escape," the woman said.
A week later, another motorist was shot and wounded in a similar attack in the same vicinity.
Wayne Minnaar, the Johannesburg metro police spokesperson, said increased patrols had been introduced on the N1 where the roadworks were taking place, along the stretch of highway around the Grasmere toll plaza that was the scene of a number of attacks three years ago, and along the N14.
"The incident on Thursday was the first in a long time. There were attacks on the N14 recently but they have stopped since we increased our patrols," he said.
Minnaar warned motorists that, because the festive season was approaching, attacks were likely to increase.
"There is definitely going to be an increase in this and other crimes at this time of the year, because there is a lot of business activity taking place. People should be especially vigilant," he said.
People should not carry large sums of money with them.
"All items of value must be kept out of sight in the boot."
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