Durban - Sonia Singh and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter are lucky to be alive after robbers first tried to hijack their car and then shot at them as they tried to escape.
The incident took place last Tuesday outside Singh’s home in Westville.
Singh, 34, a stay-at-home mum stopped her Mercedes Benz GLC at a petrol station to buy her daughter a sweet.
She fetched her daughter just after midday from school.
They then continued their journey home, with the child strapped into a car seat positioned behind the front passenger seat.
At home were her parents, a domestic worker and gardener. Her husband was at work and an elder daughter was at school.
Singh said that as she approached her driveway, she used a remote control to open the gate and then the garage door. She pressed the button to close the driveway gate as she parked the car. Then she heard the gate jam.
“At that point, I looked in my rear-view mirror and noticed that the gate was only closed halfway. I then saw a man standing near the gate in blue overalls. At first I thought it was our gardener. But before I could do anything he was at the front passenger window.
"I got a fright. He started to bang on the window with a gun. I then saw another man approach my vehicle. He tried to open the back door where my daughter was sitting.
“I made sure the doors were locked and I tried to press the vehicle’s panic button. I was scared but I knew I had to protect my daughter and get her to safety.
“In the chaos of the moment, I held my hands on the steering wheel. I looked at the wall in front of me and, for some reason, the name of the little girl who was killed in an attempted hijacking a few years ago in Chatsworth popped into my head.
“At that moment, I felt a sudden rush of energy. I put the vehicle into reverse and just accelerated out of the driveway. Along the way, I hit a third hijacker who was at the driveway gate.”
As Singh swung her vehicle onto the road, she looked into the rear-view mirror and noticed the three attackers coming towards the car.
"They opened fire on me. After the first shot, I heard my daughter say: ‘Mama’. Then other shots followed. One shattered the glass at the back of my vehicle. It fell onto my daughter.
“I later realised that one bullet missed my head by 2cm.
Singh said that as she sped off, the hijackers initially followed but then went off in another direction.
“I drove into oncoming traffic. I was like a maniac. But I knew the safest place would be the petrol station that I had gone to earlier. As I drove there my daughter was silent. I thought she had been hurt. I could not bring myself to turn around and look at her but I eventually did and she was okay."
When Singh reached the petrol station, she was helped by patrons and staff.
She called her husband and parents. She also reported the matter to the police.
"I still cannot believe how I escaped this ordeal. However, I do believe the little girl whose name popped into my head was our guardian angel and that somehow gave me the strength to protect and save my little girl."
Singh said she was receiving counselling.
"It has been traumatic. I have been going through the motions of all that has happened. My daughter is remembering what happened. She wakes up in the middle of the night in tears, saying there are glass pieces on her face. I feel so helpless seeing her like this because she was a whimsical little girl who has now become so aggressive.
“I am angry because this happened to my daughter and I when we were in our home – our safe place. I have always been a vigilant person. But to criminals, life is worthless.
"Sadly, we live in an environment where we have to prepare our children for crime. I am constantly talking to my older daughter about robberies and hijackings. People have said I was brave but I only remember feeling scared. It was a close call.
Lieutenant Colonel Nqobile Gwala, a provincial police spokesperson, said a case of attempted carjacking was being investigated.
