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Durban – An elderly worker from the Open Door Crisis Centre in Pinetown was hijacked on Tuesday evening and dumped in KwaNdengezi township three hours later. The hijackers were then involved in a chase with police that ended in a gun battle in sugar cane fields on the outskirts of Hillcrest.
One of the suspects was shot dead. Two others escaped.
On Wednesday Thelma Smith, 76, said she was “traumatised but okay” after the ordeal, which started at 5pm.
Her sister, Thora Mansfield (who is the director of the centre), said Smith had gone to the shops and was expected back in half an hour.
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I phoned her and when she answered she kept saying ‘stop harassing me’ which was very out of character,” said Mansfield.
A few moments later she phoned her sister again.
“I told her to give me one word that would let me know if she was in danger and she said ‘human’. That was when I knew something was wrong because the centre is heavily involved in the fight against human trafficking.”
Mansfield phoned the 10111 emergency line and alerted the neighbourhood watch.
It later emerged that Smith had been returning to the centre when three armed men accosted her in the driveway.
“They pushed her on to the back seat of the car and held her head down,” said Mansfield.
The men demanded Smith hand over her bank cards and pin numbers, and threatened to rape or shoot her if she refused.
She did as she was told.
They drove around the Upper Highway area and withdrew cash from her bank account. She was punched in the head and then, at about 7.30pm, she was thrown out of the car, with her cellphone, in the KwaNdengezi township near Pinetown.
A man and woman who were walking past saw Smith and helped her. They walked with her to the police station.
“This was a diabolical act, especially in Women’s Month,” Mansfield said.
“In South Africa it seems women still don’t have any rights… Thelma was robbed of her rights.”
A hijacking and kidnapping docket was opened at Pinetown police station.
The Mercury
