Family members on Monday gathered at Bernice Samuel Hospital, in Delmas, where Aaron Phike was being treated for injuries he sustained after being assaulted during the ordeal.
Mongezi, who went missing for six days after the hijackers drove away with him, was found unharmed at a children’s home in Joburg on Monday.
“I am glad that you are okay, Baba. I wanted to hit those men who did this to you,” Mongezi said, referring to the four hijackers who assaulted his father and drove away with the 6-year-old.
Moments before Mongezi and his relatives arrived at the hospital in Delmas, Aaron recalled the night of the ordeal. He said they were at an intersection and about to turn, when the attackers jumped into his car.
“It all happened very quickly. One moment I was preparing to turn, the next thing I had four youngsters in my car, two of them pointing guns at me,” he said.
Realising the seriousness of the situation, the 42-year-old said, he tried to stay calm to avoid bringing harm to Mongezi.
“They instructed me to park on the side and they started hitting me.” Tying his wrists and ankles with his shoelaces, they discussed killing him and his son.
“I begged them not to harm Mongezi. I think one of them knows one of my older sons, Comfort, because he mentioned his name, saying that he also recognised Mongezi.”
His left eye is bruised, his wrists and ankles are chafed, and he has plaster on his fractured left leg.
Aaron said his life was of secondary concern.
“I was praying and hoping that Mongezi was safe. How was I going to justify my being a father to God if my child was harmed in my presence?”
Aaron was discharged from hospital on Monday.
Earlier in the day, Mongezi spoke of the moment he was separated from his father. He described how, even though witnessing his father being attacked, he stayed calm.
Sitting next to his mother outside their home in Bronkhorstspruit, Mongezi said his father was hit with a gun on his back before his feet and hands were tied. He said he slept in the car for three nights with his abductors.
“They fed me bread, with chips and water. I told them I would not eat unless I saw my family,” he said.
While feeding her son porridge on Monday outside their home where relatives, neighbours and well-wishers had gathered to see Mongezi, his mother, Lizzie, said it was Mongezi’s first meal since arriving home.
“People have been flocking here to see him.” she said.
Mongezi spoke about how his abductors eventually abandoned him. “They left me at a mall in Johannesburg. That’s when I went to the offices and told them what happened to me and my father and told a lady there where I lived.
“The lady in the office then called the police, who came and took me to the police station, then to a place where I was with other kids.”
Gauteng Premier David Makhura visited the boy’s home and said police would not rest until the men responsible for his disappearance were behind bars.
“The police are working tirelessly, following leads to try to catch the four suspects,” he said.
The deputy police provincial commissioner, General Tebello Mosikili, said no arrests had been made so far, but a task team had been deployed to investigate the kidnapping.
Meanwhile, desperate Reiger Park residents have pleaded with President Jacob Zuma to address the crime in their community – or else they will take the law into their own hands.
The death of 4-year-old Taegrin Morris, whose mother watched helplessly as he was dragged alongside her hijacked car on Saturday night, has sparked outrage in the tightly-knit community, with threats to kill anyone related to the case.
The car hijacking seems to have gained momentum unfortunately, in recent weeks.
A friend and colleague within the media industry was hijacked this past weekend in Naturena, were he stays.
The SABC cameraman -whose identity has been withheld- was driving from his family house in Naledi Soweto, when unfortunately was confronted by unknown men with guns as he drove towards his house in Naturena in the evening.
His sister, who telephoned to inform me says, he was brutally beaten to death but fortunately; the neighbours were quick to react and called the ambulance.
“He’s still recovering although in pains at hospital.”
Also, a well known actress was also hijacked in Cape Town this past weekend.
Yes, car-hijacking seems to be on the rise once again.
