'Haunted' car goes haywire

2004-11-21 22:12

Carin Smith

Somerset West - A locked Renault jerking backwards up an incline, without the engine running and the handbrake on, has left a Cape Town family perplexed.

Ian Schietekat, owner of the Roosboom guest house, his wife, Mabel, their children and German guests were all fast asleep when a loud crash sounded through the neighbourhood just before 06:00.

They rushed out and found that the rented Renault Mégane, with which the Germans were touring through the Cape, started jumping around on its own and burst straight through a sturdy wooden fence.

Initially everyone - including the neighbours who were also jerked from their sleep - thought it was a botched attempt to steal the car.

However, the large security gate enclosing the property was still closed, car was locked, no windows had been broken, and even the handbrake was pulled up.

The police were summoned, but they were also flummoxed.

"No vehicle can move if it is not switched on," one officer said.

But he had to eat his words shortly after that.

In full view of the Schietekats, the tourists and the two police officers, the vehicle "suddenly made a type of roaring sound and gave two powerful leaps to the back, before it, thank heaven, was stopped by a hibiscus tree," Ian Schietekat recalled. "I wish you could have seen our faces. The one police officer's eyes were as big as saucers and my daughter said the car was haunted," Mabel said.

- Die Burger