SIMPHIWE NGOBENI found himself being beaten in a Quantum taxi, and he knew he had to fight for his life.
A tavern owner told him they wanted him dead for stealing from the tavern.
SIMPHIWE ALMOST DIED FOR A BOTTLE OF WHISKY HE NEVER STOLE!
Simphiwe (30) was allegedly kidnapped by the tavern owner and his friends who assaulted him in a taxi in Balfour, Mpumalanga.
When they told him they were going to kill him, he put up a fight in the moving taxi.
The terrified Simphiwe grabbed the driver and held on for dear life.
But as the fighting escalated, the taxi started swerving wildly across the road – and almost killed three men walking on the pavement. Angered by almost getting run over, the men threw bricks at the taxi.
The driver lost control and that may have saved Simphiwe’s life.
When the taxi stopped, the badly assaulted Simphiwe jumped to freedom and found help.
He was taken to hospital on Sunday, 21 August, and spent more than two weeks being treated.
Simphiwe, who was discharged from hospital last Tuesday, 6 September, said the tavern owner accused him of stealing a bottle of whisky – an accusation he denied.
“He must have mistaken me for somebody else.
“I never stole from him,” he said.
“I wasn’t even in that tavern on that day.”
Simphiwe said it was in the early hours of 21 August when the tavern owner and his friends kicked down the door of his room and started accusing him of stealing whisky.
He said they started assaulting him with a baseball bat and a hammer.
“I tried to explain that it was not me, but they forced me into the taxi, all the time assaulting me,” he said.
Simphiwe said during the assault, he heard the tavern owner speaking to other people on the phone, telling them to clear the garage and lay a plastic on the floor.
“He then told me they were taking me to Tsakane, Ekurhuleni and were going to kill me,” he said.
“I became nervous and knew that I had to fight them when we were in the taxi.
“I thank God for giving me the courage.
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“I don’t know what could have happened to me,” he said.
“I’m grateful to those three men who were almost killed by the taxi.
“If it wasn’t them, I would be dead.”
Simphiwe’s sister Carly Ngobeni (26) said the kidnappers showed no mercy as they dragged her brother from the room and assaulted him with all sorts of weapons.
“He had injuries all over his body and he couldn’t walk for almost two weeks as he lay in hospital,” she said.
The kidnappers are on the run.
Police spokesman Brigadier Selvy Mohlala said a case of attempted murder and kidnapping was opened at Balfour Police Station.
He said the police were investigating the case and no one has been arrested.
