On Tuesday morning, 19 February 2019, AfriForum’s 911 control room received an emergency notification through the TrackBox app from an AfriForum member in Hazyview. This member notified the control room that one of his employees – a truck driver – was hijacked and was being held as a hostage. The suspects demanded ransom of R5 500 for the driver’s release.
The tracking company and the South African Police Service (SAPS) were notified and called out for support. The hijacked minibus was traced to the Witbank area shortly thereafter. Thanks to the increased visibility of the SAPS and other safety institutions in this area, the driver was released unharmed. Later, the tracking company could also successfully manage to take the hijacked vehicle into possession.
“AfriForum is proud of our ability to provide assistance to community members during emergencies. It remains one of AfriForum’s goals, with the help of practical means, to continually serve the community in this manner. We encourage communities to become involved with their local AfriForum branch or any other safety initiative to therefore also contribute to better community safety,” says Hillel Coetzer, AfriForum’s Head of Community Safety in the northern region.
“By making your information available on TrackBox, the control room can immediately convey this information to emergency services so that they can handle your emergency in the most effective way. AfriForum calls on community members to download this app. It is available at www.afriforum911.co.za,” concludes Coetzer.