Joshua’s Fund

I was hijacked, robbed and kidnapped.

On Wednesday the 30th at about 15:15 in the afternoon I received a Taxify/Bolt trip which I responded to. When I arrived, two guys got in the car, one in the front passenger seat, the other in the middle at the back. As I started the trip and pulled away, the guy in the back grabbed the handbrake to stop the car. As I looked to see what had happened, the guy in the front seat had pulled a handgun out on me and demanded all my things, When I handed over my phones, money, and valuables in the car, they directed me into an alleyway where another guy joined them and they forced me out of the car and into the boot. The first hijacker got into the driver's seat, made himself comfortable by adjusting the position of the sea, and then proceeded to stall bout 5 or 6 times. If you're going to steal a car, at least know how to drive it. His accomplices shouted at him to move over, the doors opened and another driver got into the driver's seat.

We pulled away at lightning speed and drove for a while all the time they were cocking their weapon and making it blatantly clear that they would kill me at any time that they wanted. My responses were polite to all of their words, "Yes, Sir", "No Sir". I did not once try to fight back. after about an hour in the boot I tried to stick my fingers through the tiniest gaps I could find trying to get help. The hijackers got wind of this and warned me again. I kept still thereafter. My license and ID documents were in the boot in my bag and so I took them out and put them into my pocket. I don't want to deal with Home Affairs and the Traffic Department to replace those as it takes six years.

I overheard their conversations getting only glimpses of what was going on. they tried to sell my work car over the phone haggling about prices while I was in the boot. We headed to somewhere in delft where the bonnet was opened by the hijackers to I can only assume look for a tracker of sorts. The bonnet was closed and we moved on. I was asked about the tools needed to take out the tourist screen in my car, I did not have the tools, they ripped it out. The conversation on the hijackers' side kept going on about where we were at the time, Symphony Way, 35th Avenue, Shoprite Voortrekker. At this point I had fallen asleep, waiting for demands from my hijackers.

Very long after, I was woken by a handbrake turn, almost as though they were having fun. The boot opens. I am ordered out. I thank them for not injuring me, to which their response was, "Sho Boss". Unsure to be shocked or not, they climb back into my car and speed away, tyres spinning like no tomorrow, and I'm thinking, "I'd really like to be doing that tyre spin, howe unfair".

reality kicks in and I try to gather myself looking for Table Mountain as a guide to where I might be. It's nowhere to be seen. There's a highway, I run to it. People refuse to stop for me because I'm dirty as fuck and who would stop in this country. Fortunately, an officer on his way home stops and puts me in contact with the flying squad. The owner is notified and he disables the car. Flying Squad then takes me through Khayelitsha where the tracker is showing the vehicle to be. The vehicle is nowhere to be found.

I am then transferred to Mitchells Plain SAPS by Flying Squad to report the case whilst they still find the car. Mitchells Plain SAPS do not help and ask that I go to Phillipi SAPS. Phillipi SAPS refuse to help and direct me to Nyanga SAPS. Nyanga SAPS say that they can help. A case is opened. Flying Squad recovers the vehicle in Khayelitsha. I was dropped in a field in Somerset West at the Engen.

The next day I go to Taxify/Bolt offices at M5 Park. Their response is my biggest concern. Their response was too robotic and incredibly insincere. Repeating what I was saying to seem as though they cared. They don't. All they will do is block the rider and follow up with SAPS. They don't care about the fact that I am now destitute, my debit orders will bounce as all my cash was stolen, no means of communication, and stranded in life.

Please, can anyone who uses the service please boycott it and delete the app as they do not care. If I was killed, they would not have even known what happened on Wednesday and the client would have hijacked or possibly killed another driver. Use other services where possible like Uber, Minibusses, GA, and MyCiti. You have no security on Taxify/Bolt as a driver or a passenger. These things will continue to happen unless biometrics are used to verify clients. A fingerprint scanner is in majority of today's handsets and we have no issue registering our prints on there.

#biometricsorboycott

CapeTalk Bolt

I am thankful to be alive...