Durban's Berea Tollgate Bridge a hotspot for smash and grabs

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Durban - After video footage of an attempted smash and grab at Berea’s Tollgate Bridge went viral on social media, another victim has come forward to talk about her ordeal at the same spot. In the video that went viral on Monday, a car stopped at a red light at Tollgate Bridge where the attacker repeatedly tried to smash the driver’s side window. The driver moved forward and the attacker and another man realised they had been unsuccessful. Bianca Kaidatzis wasn’t as fortunate. On Wednesday at 7.55am, Kaidatzis was alone in her car heading to work. She said she was stuck in traffic, waiting for it to start moving, and had not seen anyone near the car.

Suddenly, she heard a smash and her window broke. She said she saw a man in a cap and a blue T-shirt grab her bag from the floor of the front seat.

“I tried so hard to hold on to my bag, but he ran away with it. It all happened in just 30 seconds, and he was gone,” said Kaidatzis.

She said she couldn’t understand how uncaring other drivers were, saying they were impatient and hooting at her as if it was her fault she had been caught in that situation.

“They know you can’t go anywhere in traffic, there’s cars on both sides, and back and front. You also can’t get out of the car and chase these guys.”

Kaidatzis was left traumatised after the incident and also had hurt her hand trying to grab her bag back from the snatcher. The smash and grab was also costly: she has had to spend more than R3000 to have the window fixed and to replace valuables.

“I had to replace my bank card, went to Home Affairs for a new ID, the licence department for a new licence and get new glasses; this has been such an inconvenience for just R100 in my wallet.”

Bianca Kaidatzis had her front window smashed and lost her bag and valuable bank cards at the Berea Tollgate Bridge during a smash and grab.

She urged the City metro police and SAPS to do something about the situation at the Tollgate Bridge.

Speaking on behalf of metro police, Superintendent Boysie Zungu said they were aware of the incidents and attended to cases when they arose.

“We have police patrolling that place, but we cannot have police standing in one place all the time. When motorists and pedestrians see suspicious people, they should call us on our hotline and we will dispatch police to the place of the incident,” said Zungu.

He said other hotspots were Victoria Embankment and the M4.

SAPS spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele appealed to victims to open cases and said constant patrols were conducted by police.

“We advise motorists to be vigilant at all times and to not leave valuables visible in their vehicles.”

The metro police telephone number is 0313610000.