Susannah Leigh (40) was travelling from Hout Bay to Camps Bay one evening on July 22 when a couple possibly saved her life after telling her they saw a man climb into the back of her bakkie when she stopped.
A couple who were travelling behind Leigh took a video of an unidentified man climbing into the back of her vehicle. Leigh owns a bakkie with a canopy and didn’t even notice the man hop into the back.
Leigh is urging others who own similar vehicles to take extra caution when travelling, especially at night, as it is so easy for someone to get into your car without you noticing.
“People with canopies on their bakkie’s need to be more aware. A man climbed into the back of my vehicle while I was driving home at night from Hout Bay. I had no idea he had gotten into the back. It was very dark, rainy and windy. He climbed in at Victoria road. I drove the whole coastal road to Camps Bay not knowing a man was in my car,” said a shaken-up Leigh on Facebook.
The man climbed in when Leigh slowed down on Victoria Road and the couple who caught it on video followed her all the way to Camps Bay to make sure she was safe when she stopped.
When Leigh eventually stopped along a main road in Camps Bay to deliver something for a friend, the couple stopped next to her to alert her.
At first she was cautious about two unfamiliar people trying to get her attention but then she rolled down her window and the man driving said to her, “There’s a man in the back of your car”.
Leigh was shocked and didn’t know what to believe, she got out of the car to see for herself and realised there really was a stranger at the back.
She immediately grabbed her bag from the back seat and dashed across the road to a nearby restaurant to ask for help. Here, she alerted people at the restaurant about the man and two waiters went over to remove the unidentified man.
In all the chaos, the man was brought over the road to Leigh and a security car was called to assist with the situation. The suspect pretended to be drunk and did not answer when she asked why he was at the back of her car. The security guard said he had seen the man before and knew him.
Leigh became frustrated and felt utterly violated following the bizarre event and drove away.
“I never reported it to the police but I think I should have in hindsight, I was honestly just so affected by the incident,” she said.
Locals are being reminded to be extra cautious when driving a bakkie with a canopy, always lock your canopy and check the back of your vehicle before you start driving to your destination.
Picture: Facebook