13-06-2025
Watch: Man attacks disabled woman alleged reckless driving in Mbombela
A 61-year-old disabled woman says she was assaulted after she tried to get the details of a man who allegedly nearly caused an accident by taking a dangerous shortcut across the R40 at the Westend Shopping Centre in Mbombela.
'If I didn't swerve, there would have been a head-on collision,' said Estella Coetzer, a Hilltop resident, speaking to Lowvelder.
The incident occurred at around 07:00 on Wednesday (June 11) shortly after she had dropped off her grandchild at a nearby primary school. She had stopped at the Sasol Garage before heading home.
'I turned left onto the R40 when I saw a car coming straight at me. A man, travelling from the Barberton direction, had cut across the central median of the R40 to access the Sasol Garage.
I swerved to the left to avoid him. He didn't stop and just drove on. I was extremely upset and decided to turn back to get his registration number so I could report him for reckless driving,' she said.
Coetzer spotted the vehicle at the garage. 'I parked in front of the shop, and as I was getting out, I saw him approaching. He started shouting at me, saying: 'You funny lady! You wanted to kill me!' I told him he was the one who nearly killed me with his reckless driving.'
She attempted to take a photo of his car. 'That was when he shoved me and pushed me into my vehicle, trying to grab my mobile phone. I called for help, but no one responded. He eventually managed to get hold of my phone and smashed it on the ground. He also broke my glasses during the altercation,' Coetzer said.
@lowvelder Video footage of the assault on the 61-year-old Estella Coetzer by a 35-year-old man. The incident happened at the Sasol Garage at Westend on Wednesday, June 11.
♬ original sound – Lowveld Media
The man then returned to his car and drove off.
One of the garage employees activated the panic button, and within minutes, security response vehicles from iSecure, Hi-Tech and Divergent Ops arrived on the scene.
'I was shocked and flabbergasted,' Coetzer said. 'At that moment, my former employer came out of the garage shop. He brought me coffee – with lots of sugar – to calm me down and wiped the blood from a cut on my lip.'
She later reported the incident to the police. Her husband, Flippie, took her to Rob Ferreira Hospital, where she was examined, underwent x-rays, and was discharged.
Lowvelder has since established that the suspect, who was driving a red Ford Laser, is a 35-year-old man from Mbonisweni, near Kabokweni.
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