Motorist ‘tried to throttle reporter’
Cape Town, Ravensmead 09122011 The Ghost Squad cracked down on illegal drag racing on Francie Van Zyl Road (Ravensmead area). Arrests were made.Maxine Jordaan, a spokeswoman for Cape Town Traffic Services, was assaulted after she pulled over a motorist who hit her patrol vehicle. The motorist allegedly strangled and hit her until members of the public restrained him Reporter Kowthar Solomons. Picture Courtney Africa Cape Town, Ravensmead 09122011 The Ghost Squad cracked down on illegal drag racing on Francie Van Zyl Road (Ravensmead area). Arrests were made.Maxine Jordaan, a spokeswoman for Cape Town Traffic Services, was assaulted after she pulled over a motorist who hit her patrol vehicle. The motorist allegedly strangled and hit her until members of the public restrained him Reporter Kowthar Solomons. Picture Courtney Africa
Good Hope FM traffic reporter and city traffic officer Maxine Jordaan is battered and bruised after a run-in with an elderly driver, following a minor collision on Friday.
The man is alleged to have slammed his car door on Jordaan’s shoulder and tried to throttle her, before fleeing.
City traffic spokeswoman Chief Inspector Merle Lourens said Jordaan, who was in uniform, was driving an official car on the N1 off-ramp to Monte Vista at about 6.50am on Friday when a motorist collided with her car.
Despite Jordaan gesturing to the driver to pull over, he drove off, only to be brought to a halt by traffic lights.
Jordaan switched on her blue light and drove after the man.
At the lights she confronted him.
She said: “The man said he didn’t have time for this.
“I asked him for his driver’s licence but he said he only had his ID book. He seemed to be calm, but then he grabbed the ID book from me.
“I told him he could not leave, but when I tried to take his car keys from the ignition he closed his car door on me.”
The door slammed into her shoulder. “He proceeded to choke me until a man came to my assistance.”
This was passing motorist Johan Pretorius, who saw Jordaan lying on the ground with the driver apparently trying to throttle her.
Pretorius said he was on his way to work when he saw a man getting “confrontational” with the officer. “I got out my car, subdued the man and took his keys,” he said.
Shortly afterwards, traffic officers arrived and arrested the driver, who was taken to Goodwood police station and charged with assaulting a traffic officer and fleeing the scene of an accident, Lourens said.
She said the man’s driving licence had expired in 2009.
Jordaan has neck and shoulder injuries and bruised wrists.
She said: “I am shocked, especially as this was from an elderly gentleman, and happened during the 16 Days of Activism against violence on women and children. I am not deterred by this though – I still have a passion for traffic and the community.”
Lourens added: “This was dealt with quickly as assistance came to her from all sides. You don’t often find people like Pretorius stopping to assist, they just stay in their cars.”
Jordaan does the traffic report for Good Hope FM during the morning and evening drive times. Programme manager Gerard Muller said they were shocked by what had happened and the “total disregard for law enforcement officers”.