Members of the Harare Community Policing Forum (CPF) are annoyed by the escalating car hijackings incidents in Kuyasa.
This comes after law enforcement officers rescued two people in the Kuyasa whose vehicle was hijacked at Ntlazane Road on Tuesday 11 January.
Harare CPF chair Funeka Soldaat described the incident as shocking.
She said police officers are working hard to curb crime in the area.
“The whole of December has been so quiet. Ever since a mobile police station was launched in Harare crime has decreased. We are shocked to hear such bad news,” said Soldaat.
However, she stated that criminals are mostly targeting business vehicles.
“Even when there was a hype of hijacking in Khayelitsha most of the vehicles targeted were trucks because they wanted money or something inside,” she said.
Soldaat praised the officers for saving the victim’s lives. She urged officers to pull up their socks as many people are returning from the holidays.
The City’s Law Enforcement spokesperson Wayne Dyason confirmed the incident.
He said it occurred at about 01:10. He said the City’s Law Enforcement LEAP officers were on patrol Kuyasa when they spotted the situation.
“The area is known as a hotspot for hijackings. In Ntlazane Road the officers spotted a white car travelling at high speed and the driver upon seeing the officers stopped immediately near an informal settlement. Two occupants exited the vehicle and the officers gave chase on foot. The suspects fired two shots at the pursuing officers and then managed to disappear into the night,” said Dayson.
He said on an inspection of the vehicle left behind revealed two people, bound and gagged in the boot of the car.
“Both appeared unconscious and were clearly viciously assaulted. One of them regained consciousness and informed the officers they were on the beach at Monwabisi then proceeded to a shop in Endlovini where they were taken captive by the suspects,” he stated.
He said the victims were taken to a shack at Endlovini and assaulted by the perpetrators. Dayson said the victims remembered the location of the shack they were held captive in and took the officers there. He said the shack was unoccupied but 2 cell phones and 15 packets of Tik were found.
“The victims did not want to lay any charges and were allowed to recover their cell phones and vehicle,” said Dayson.
