'I am incredibly angry'
2004-04-23 08:45
Johanesburg - The hijackers tore her clothes from her body, held her down, raped her and kept slapping her while she pleaded with them to spare her niece.
"They were barbaric. Cruel. Rough - with no respect for anything or anyone. They were not afraid or nervous. In fact, they were excited."
This is how a 46-year-old woman, who was hijacked with her husband and 14-year-old niece at Grasmere toll plaza on the N1 highway three weeks ago, described their nightmare.
She said on Thursday that the gate on the Ennerdale off-ramp was the only one that was open at 04:45.
The three hijackers attacked them 250m from the toll plaza and destroyed their lives.
"There is nothing sensational in what happened to us. It was a disaster. My niece and I will know in a year's time whether we have Aids."
The three hijackers took the family to a remote place near the Golden Highway.
Saw them shoot at her husband
"They hit my husband over the head and broke his glasses on his face. They ordered him to run.
"They fired five shots at him and we saw him falling in the grass. I thought he was dead."
She and her niece were forced into the boot of a Camry, while some of the hijackers followed in the victims' Colt bakkie.
"We held each other and prayed."
The hijackers stopped about 5km from the toll plaza, pulled the women from the boot and raped them.
"It felt like eternity. I wanted to pick up my clothes afterwards, but they said I had to leave them. Then they shouted at us to run.
"I suddenly froze. I couldn't move. My heart raced, my mouth was dry and I couldn't breathe. I thought 'This is it. They will shoot us in the back'."
The niece grabbed her aunt by the hands and begged her to run. Barefoot and wearing only shirts, the two crashed through the bushes.
"The branches scratched us and the grass was higher than our heads. We couldn't see where we were going - it was a hopeless and desperate attempt to escape."
The two later reached the N1 highway, a few hundred metres from the Grasmere toll plaza.
"We realised we were wearing only shirts. We pulled our shirts over our hips to cover ourselves. I tried to flag down motorists, but nobody wanted to stop."
Police found them along the highway a few minutes later. They picked up her husband unharmed along the Golden Highway.
Breeding ground for criminals
She said her niece had become an "old" 14-year-old.
"That childlike flame was pulled from her. She will never be the same again. She was a virgin."
She cannot understand that the staff at the toll plaza did not hear the gunshots or see anything.
"It feels as if we were ambushed. Why did they (the staff) not call for help?"
And, she is angry.
"I am incredibly angry. I cannot sit quietly in the corner and lick my wounds. Our roads are a breeding ground for criminals and I am sick and tired of this."