Man hijacked car for revenge
2008-03-04 20:29
Nelspruit - A man who hijacked a tracking company's vehicle claims he did so to take revenge after his girlfriend left him for one of the company's drivers.
Wonder Chikane (28) of Msogwaba trust near Nelspruit was jailed for 15 years in the Nelspruit regional court on Friday.
He had pleaded not guilty, but was convicted of hijacking Joseph Nyambi (62), a driver for Netstar, of a company four-wheel drive bakkie at about 21:00 on March 25 last year.
Nyambi had been relaxing in the bakkie with Thembisile Patience Mlangeni (27), whom Chikane claimed was his ex-girlfriend.
They were parked outside Mlangeni's parent's home.
Nyambi testified that Chikane and two men held them up at gunpoint, ordered them out of the bakkie and then robbed him of his wallet before taking the vehicle.
He said they fired shots at him when he ran away and hid in a dark ditch.
"I could hear the tsotsis saying, 'Finish the dog if you even see his shadow'?.
Nyambi said they left when they couldn't find him in the ditch.
He was worried about what had happened to Mlangeni and went to ask a friend to help him find her.
They found her running naked on the roadside.
While on their way to the police station, they saw Chikane drinking a bottle of beer at a store. Nyami said Chikane used his hand to show how he would shoot them in the head.
They returned with the police after opening a robbery and hijacking case.
Netstar later found the vehicle in Pienaar, where it had been stripped of its parts.
Chikane was arrested at a friend's house a few days later.
Mlangeni testified that she was afraid of Chikane because he was known to be a dangerous man.
She denied ever having a relationship with him as he claimed, but said she knew him because they had attended the same school a few years ago.