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Toll hijack: CCTV cables cut
05/04/2004 07:26 - (SA)
Lizel Steenkamp, Beeld
Johannesburg - In a shocking turn of events regarding the gruesome hijacking at the Grasmere toll plaza south of Johannesburg, it has come to light that the closed-circuit television cameras were not working on that particular morning because somebody had cut the cables shortly before.
The latest revelation has brought staff at this toll plaza on the N1 highway to Bloemfontein under suspicion and lie-detector tests will now be conducted to try to find out the truth.
Intertoll, the company that runs the toll plaza on behalf of the national road agency, said on Sunday that their staff would complete polygraph tests on Monday. Statements have already been taken down from the people who worked on the morning of the hijacking.
"We are very concerned over this (the cutting of the cables). The worst scenario is that our toll officials were involved. The polygraph tests will assist the police in the investigation", Don Jakins, chief executive of Intertoll, said on Sunday.
A Randburg family was hijacked at about 05:00 on Wednesday morning and two women were raped after the family was apparently led into a trap at the Grasmere toll plaza.
The 56-year-old driver of the vehicle claims all the tollgates on the N1 highway were closed and that he had no choice but to use the gate on the Ennerdale off-ramp.
Hijackers overpowered the family, who was on their way to the Eastern Cape, on the Ennerdale bridge when they stopped at a stop sign. The hijackers parked a car in the road to prevent the family from getting onto the highway again.
The man was assaulted and his wife, 46, and her niece, 14, were raped.
Since the attack, Intertoll has denied that all the tollgates on the highway were closed and said that their records showed that at least two gates were open to traffic on that particular morning.
The Vaal Rand anti-hijacking unit wanted to use video material from the closed-circuit television cameras at the toll plaza in their investigation.
Jakins admitted on Sunday that they did not have video material to assist the police.
He said somebody must have gained access to the cables through a manhole near the plaza. The manhole lies within the security fences of the toll plaza.
Intertoll did not realise that the cables had been cut because they did not have the facilities to monitor the video material.
Two security guards have since been appointed at the toll plaza and an additional two vehicles have been made available for emergencies and accidents.
Inspector Trudie Wilken, police spokesperson, said detectives were still searching for the other three suspects and the hijacked bakkie.
A 38-year-old man was arrested in Johannesburg on Thursday afternoon in connection with the attack. The car that was used in the hijacking was found at a hotel in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, on Thursday morning.
N1 - Hijacking hotspot
- Beeld
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