WATCH Video Captures Grayston Drive Robbery in Action

A video showing a blatant robbery in action in Gauteng, South Africa, is gaining a lot of traction and raising the conversation on how witnesses to a crime should behave.

The video was posted by Intelligence Bureau SA on Thursday morning, and shows two men approaching a vehicle on the Grayston Drive Off-Ramp. While the one man appears to put his arm through the top of the window to force the door open and steal possessions, the other keeps the door open as the driver attempts to move the vehicle away in heavy traffic. (Watch below.)

Intelligence Bureau said: “This is a daily occurrence in SA! Crime is out of control.”

https://www.facebook.com/IntelligenceBureauSA/videos/2165309003482609/

Several social media ‘warriors’ were outraged that someone video-ed the robbery rather than driving into the criminals and beating them up, or doing something more “constructive”.

Others pointed out that as brave as these people sound on Facebook, in reality most would not actually engage with the robbers; and if you did run over somebody you would face jail time yourself.

Some said it’s never wise to be a hero when there’s a crime taking place. Possessions can be replaced, lives can’t. They pointed out that videoing the crime was the best thing to do in order to provide evidence.

One motorist Mthulisi Ncube Malaba, said he had tried the brave route last year – bumping a robber in the Joburg CBD, “thinking that I am helping a fellow motorist”. Mthulisi said: “Fortunately (for me) the criminal did not die, stood up and ran away.”

He said the victim that he’d helped, who lost their bag, refused to accompany him to the police station and that his good deed hadn’t paid off – he landed up with a damaged car that insurance refused to pay for, a risk of being killed by other criminals, and hours wasted at the station.

“What do I do now if I am not the victim?” he asked. “I stay in my lane, look up straight the road and do nothing but drive.”

Annellane Pillay said she was a victim on Jan Smuts Avenue two months ago. “They come to the window with a gun and demand you open the window. They take whatever is visible including the jewellery you wearing. There is nothing you can do in peak traffic but just give away what you worked for. How much more must you sacrifice for your safety?”

Lo Pillay said the same thing almost happened to her on Heidelberg Road last week, but that thankfully she had nothing of value in eye sight, and she had left a car and a half length in front of her so that she was able to pull away before she could become a victim.

“There were cars behind me as well that did nothing. No hooting to draw my attention to the idiot by my passenger side window, nothing. This is the SA we live in, everyone for themselves. We ladies are easy targets for these a**holes. Be vigilant & safe out there.”

Other advice given to motorists in the discussion was to keep handbags, laptop bags and cellphones out of sight (including not talking on a cellphone while in a vehicle); and to lock doors, close windows and have a pepper spray close to hand.