Johannesburg – Kholwani Mbuyisa is lucky to be alive after escaping death two years ago when unidentified assailants threw a large rock at his moving vehicle from an overhead bridge and left him for dead.
Mbuyisa told Sunday World that he had been driving home from work on the N2 highway between oThongathi area and Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal north coast, when he suddenly heard a loud bang on his windscreen.
“I was in a state of shock, lost control of the vehicle, and it veered off the road. When the vehicle eventually stopped on its own, I tried to alight but was trapped. I feared for my life because my immediate thought was that the car would burn with me inside,” he said.
Mbuyisa said his ordeal happened around 8.30pm, and he recalls that although he suffered life-threatening injuries to his head and stomach, he was grateful to have survived.
“I think one of the motorists might have noticed what had happened and called an ambulance because in less than half an hour, the ambulance arrived on the scene and attended to me. I was rushed to hospital because I was bleeding excessively. I spent more than six months in hospital and suffered severe scars on my head, stomach and paralysis on the right hand. My entire body was numb, and I eventually quit work because of my health,” he laments.
He said it had been a long quest for justice trying to find answers.
“My vehicle was damaged beyond repair and the insurance company refused to pay.
“The only time I was updated about the case was when police arrested two 13-year-olds and said they were suspects. They were eventually released. Since then, I’ve written numerous correspondence to the provincial commissioner seeking his intervention.”
Mbuyisa’s story is one of several horrifying rock-throwing incidents along the province’s roads with criminal syndicates said to be behind the reign of terror targeting unsuspecting motorists. The incidents are widespread at overheard bridges where the rock-throwing gang allegedly lies in ambush waiting for the next victim.
After throwing a large rock at a moving car, they will then approach the terrified motorists and rob them of their belongings before fleeing the scene.
The overhead bridge between Ballito and oThongathi is considered one of the rock-throwing hotspots. The latest victim of the deadly crime is 39-year-old Phildon Chetty, a commercial manager at Aspen Pharmaceuticals in Durban, who was killed last Friday when his vehicle was hit by a rock.
The rock penetrated the windscreen, breaking Chetty’s neck and killing him.
Captain Nqobile Gwala, the provincial police spokesperson, said it was often difficult to solve rock-throwing cases.
“Unless there is compelling evidence, deaths as a result of rock-throwing are usually categorised under culpable homicide. But there are cases where culprits have been successfully prosecuted for murder.”
She said police were investigating, which could lead to the arrest of suspects linked to Chetty’s death.
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