A Blue Downs shopkeeper has described the terrifying minutes when armed robbers hijacked his bakkie with his five-year-old daughter still inside — and the split-second decision that helped bring her home safely.
Shukur Amadin, a local shopkeeper, says he feared the worst on 21 May when criminals targeted him outside his home, turning an ordinary shopping trip into a nightmare. His daughter, Fatiya Handino, had been left in the vehicle when the incident unfolded.
Amadin recalled that the hijacking began with what appeared to be a routine interaction at his shop. “We had just come from shopping and these guys came to the shop, two of them, one of whom was purchasing bubblegum inside the shop.
"My daughter was in the car.”
He said only minutes passed before the situation escalated dramatically. “Three minutes had passed and the next minute one of the suspects had a gun to his face, demanding his money, car and cellphone.”
Amadin said he complied as the suspects demanded his belongings. “I had R1 400 in my pocket and I gave my cellphone thinking that my driver’s licence is in the cover.
“He asked for my car’s keys and said I must get out.
“I began to cry because my daughter was still in the car. I asked them to please let her go and they drove off with her in the bakkie.”
The vehicle, a Hilux bakkie, was driven off with the child still inside. In the panic that followed, Amadin ran through the streets searching for it — and then remembered something that would become crucial.
“A frantic Amadin began running down the streets searching for the vehicle and remembered he had the immobiliser button still in his possession and made use of it.”
As his desperate search continued, help began to gather around him. A neighbour and members of the community assisted in flagging down Law Enforcement officers, who responded and quickly began working to track down the hijacked vehicle and the suspects.
Amadin described how he alerted officers that his daughter had been taken along with the bakkie. “I gave the law enforcement officer the details. I said they stole my daughter who was in the car.”
Law Enforcement officers soon located the vehicle — but the search was not over. “They found the bakkie but my child was not there. I was crying for my daughter.”
In the continuing operation, officers searched the surrounding area and located one suspect. “They found one of the suspects in the bush.”
Amadin said the moment he received word that his daughter was alive and safe was impossible to describe. According to him, she was found on the side of the road and ended up in the care of his brother. With his daughter safe, Amadin expressed relief and gratitude for everyone who had stepped in during the ordeal.
“I cannot explain how I feel, I am so happy,” he explained.“My cellphone was still ringing after the incident and we found it and my driver’s licence in the bush. It must have fallen out when the robber was taking off his clothes.”
City officials later praised the Law Enforcement response, with officer Chimoney Abrahams and her colleagues specifically acknowledged for their speed in reacting to the emergency.
The City’s Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, commended the team for their courage and commitment in ensuring the child was safe.
He said: “Officer Abrahams spotted the suspect trying to remove his clothes and apprehended the 32-year-old male.
“He was subsequently handed over to SAPS.”
For Amadin, the events of 21 May remain a blur of fear, running feet, shouted pleas and relentless searching — but also of neighbours and strangers stepping forward when it mattered most. The incident began with an everyday stop at his shop and ended with his daughter found alive after being taken during a hijacking, his vehicle recovered, and one suspect arrested and handed to SAPS.
While the trauma of having a child caught up in violent crime is difficult to quantify, Amadin’s account places the focus firmly on two defining factors: a father’s quick decision to use the immobiliser button still in his possession, and a rapid response from Law Enforcement aided by the community’s immediate mobilisation.
The hijacking left behind a trail of small details that now carry heavy meaning — the cellphone still ringing, the driver’s licence recovered, and the explanation that it “must have fallen out when the robber was taking off his clothes.” Yet the central fact remains that Fatiya Handino was rescued after being taken in the hijacked Hilux bakkie, and she survived a frightening ordeal that began just outside her home.
As the suspect faces the next steps in the criminal justice process, Amadin’s words capture the emotional outcome most parents cling to after such an incident: relief that a child is home, alive, and safe.
