'I get nervous when I see young males‚ after having a gun to my head'

Soft-spoken mother of two Philisiwe Sefatsa is shaken after being caught up in a hijacking ordeal.

“They pointed a gun to my head‚” the former SABC newsreader‚ who is KwaZulu-Natal’s Democratic Alliance spokesperson‚ said on Monday.

Recounting the hijacking ordeal‚ Sefatsa she had just arrived around 5pm on Thursday last week and was waiting for her mother in the family home driveway in Newlands West‚ outside Durban.

She was accosted by two armed men who demanded her vehicle keys and cellphone.

They also wanted to force her into the car.

“I often come home around the same time and I think perhaps they had been watching me for a while. I’m still shaken and traumatised by this especially the gun. These were just young men‚ very young‚” she said.

“I still get nervous when I see young males. I know I shouldn’t but this has had a huge effect on me.”

She said she was alone in the car and her children were not with her.

Sefatsa first announced her hijacking on Facebook‚ urging people to be on the lookout for her vehicle. Her car‚ a white Kia Picanto‚ has not been found.

KwaZulu-Natal MEC for transport‚ community safety and liaison Mxolisi Kaunda condemned the incident‚ saying this was the “sad face of crime” which knew no borders in pursuance of its nefarious deeds.

Kaunda confirmed that police had opened a hijacking case at the Newlands East police station.

“We strongly condemn this attack on a young lady. Police are working around the clock to attend to this case. This is‚ indeed‚ the sad signs of crime which devour us all equally. It underlines the need for all of us to form a united front against crime and criminality.