Cape Town - An ederly Crawford resident has been left traumatised after she was hijacked in front of her home while she unloaded her groceries.
On Wednesday morning at around 10.30am, the 72-year-old woman was standing at the front passenger side of her parked Hyundai Atos, when the suspect, wearing a black hat and maroon top walked past her.
In a minute-long CCTV footage, the man is seen walking slowly past the woman, never taking his eyes off her. He stops for a few seconds, and then approaches the woman carrying a weapon in his hand.
A physical altercation ensues, in which the victim can be seen trying to fight off the hijacker who lunges for the car key in her hand.
He manages to take the car key and move to the driver's door, but the elderly woman doesn’t give up as she goes after the man again.
The suspect then pushes the helpless woman with force that she falls and hits her head on the ground.
As she gets up, her neighbour, who holds a broom, stands in front of the car. He places the broom on the bumper but the hijacker speeds up.
The neighbour then falls on the side of the road and a man wearing a lime vest also comes into the frame, but can’t catch up with the driver.
CCTV footage from another angle shows there were two other witnesses wearing blue overalls, but they stand where they can’t be seen by the victim and the suspect.
The man with the lime vest comes into the frame, running towards the victim’s car.
When he approaches, two cars drive by and when he reaches the vehicle, the hijacker drives into the elderly woman’s neighbour and then flees from the scene.
Though the footage only shows one man behind the incident, the police said they were looking for two suspects, reportedly from Hanover Park.
Police spokesperson, Wesley Twigg said: According to reports, the victim was offloading groceries from her vehicle when she was approached by two unknown suspects who demanded the keys of the vehicle and sped off. The suspects are yet to be arrested.”
Anyone with any information can contact Crime Stop anonymously on 08600 10111.