Joost robbed at gunpoint

2007-07-29 23:04

Nico Strydom

Pretoria - Joost van der Westhuizen says it was the thought of his wife Amor and their children which kept him calm while a man held a gun to his head.

The former Bok captain was robbed after his car had run out of petrol near Viljoenskroon on Friday night as he was returning home from a function in Bothaville.

Van der Westhuizen says he knew he'd have to put in petrol, but was deep in conversation with Amor and drove past the filling station.

"My cellphone's battery was flat, but luckily I was able to contact the organisers of the event to bring petrol to me. I was relaxing and listening to Frank Sinatra singing My way, when I heard a sudden knock at the car window.

"I got a fright, but realised I had to stay calm. I opened the door and the one took out his gun and aimed it at me.

"I told them my cellphone's battery was flat and that the car had no petrol. I had about R400 on me and told them they could take it.

"I'm sure the one recognised me, because I heard him say something about 'Amabokoboko'."

The two grabbed the money and ran off when they saw a car approach. It was someone who'd brought Joost petrol.

"I realise that I had made a bad call. I should have made sure that there was enough petrol in the car and that my cellphone's battery was full.

In spite of his traumatic experience at the hands of the robbers, Joost and Amor were on a tandem bike on Sunday trying to raise money for the "Kidz on Bikes" project.

- Beeld