Hi jacking at chickenfarm 28/5

[manbearpig]

There must be an echo in here but WHERE EXACTLY IS SCHURWEBERG ROAD PAST CHICKEN FARM?

[RocknRolla]

i am sure the victims would love nothing more than post GPS co-ords, but it's a bit difficult to do so when your GPS got stolen with your bike.

 

all jokes aside, i too would like to add this to my "list of avoidances"

[Tumbleweed]

There must be an echo in here but WHERE EXACTLY IS SCHURWEBERG ROAD PAST CHICKEN FARM?

 

This is what googlemaps gives:

 

Googlemaps

[Pix]

Did a quick search on Google Maps and came up with a SCHURWEBERG Road in Centurion Area. Dont know that part of town much but some clarity would be nice!

[AIRMAVRICK]

Why only the LBS?

 

Didnt even think of going further than that, maybe we should try and get a fund together from contributiions and approach a investigator?

[RocknRolla]

well the original poster did state that they disapeared over the hill in the cheesefarm direction, which points to the harties area.

 

on Garmap, Schurweberg basically takes me to hennops 4 x 4 route area.

[Bastiaan]

If you drive along the M34 from Centurion towards Northern Farms you get a little shopping centre on your lefthand side approx 4 km's from Gardner Ross. Right opposite the shop is a turn-off that leads to the chicken farm. There is a jeep track that runs along the main route to the chicken farm -under the Electricity poles. Right at the end of the jeeptrack where it links up with the dirt road that passes the chicken farm is where it occurred.The perpetrators left over the hill in the direction of the cheesefarm where it links up with the Schurweberg road.Google co-ordinates

 

25°51'10.56"S

28° 4'38.96"E

 

Hope this helps

[Pappa Bear]

how long before they hit van gaalen? That is going to be a sad day..... We should get the big guns, 3rd degree, carte blanch, mike bolhuis......... where does the bikes go? Who distributes them? How do you get 7 high end mtbs out of chicken farm without suspision? Who buys stolen bikes? I just realized why they take the clothes and helmets, they do it not to look to suspesious, when cycling a mtb.....

[pauloc]

I would be more than happy to donate money to some or other group that used it to make routes safer by policing them. I am sure 99% of cyclists would.

 

Based on that we could probably raise a decent bit of money to put to good use.

 

Unfortunately there is no practical way of policing some of these routes. The whole allure of MTB is the fact that it is done in secluded areas. This makes it very difficult to fence off or patrol the routes.

 

There has been talk of registering bikes to prevent the re sale, but there will still be unscrupolous people buying and selling stolen bikes. (Think cars, cell phones etc)

 

Any inspirational ideas?

I'd also be keen to contribute towards hiring a PI to track bike-jackers that are operating on my local route. I'm sure that any cyclists that feel threatened (aka everyone that rides a bike these days) would also be willing. Problem is although I feel the pain for you okes in Joburg, I'd rather sort out the issues closer to home first.

 

But in principle if someone / some organization was willing to co-ordinate this effort I'm sure a quick message to local clubs and cyclists would be all that it would take to get funds donated to pay for a PI to track these bike-jackers down. It's the only way I see us turning this trend around. Once these guys realise that there's consequences to their actions and we're not just going to stand around and take it, they'll soon either be locked up in jail / move onto other easier targets.

 

Case in point is Giba Gorge. They've had issues in the past and forked out for a PI out of their own pockets. Brought a spate of bike-jackings to an end and made the trails safe to ride again.

[BigGuy]

This used to be such a nice route to cycle. Myself and the wife have gone past there plenty of times on route to Gerhardsville. Really sad.

[Brki]

I lost my Felt Virtue 1 in this 'jack. And some other stuff, including a bit of joy. Some thoughts: Any weapons carried by us would have been turned against us. They outnumbered us two to one in the ambush, as we were split up into two groups of three. (Just the natural consequences of riding.) They seemed quite efficient and effective, which leads me to think that they are the foot soldiers of an organised group, and not just opportunists. (I think opportunists would have committed additional offences.) We got away lightly: we lost about R250k on the morning, but we only had to attend at the local charge office and not at the local hospital. The SAPS was like the energy drink left in your bottle after a race - tepid, and not available for the intended purpose. From where I lay face down in the grass, an armed escort really looked like the only solution. That, and bringing civilization to this place.

[Klaus]

Sad, very sad!

[AndyM]

Sad, very sad!

This past weekend two of us MTb riders and the Mnandi Burt Wag spent from 06h00 until 11h00 in the area of this hijacking, two guys did lay down in the grass and waited for three cyclist to come back down the hill just after the T junction, the riders turned away from the guys in the grass and rode off down the road. When we closed in with the vehicles the two guys in the grass vanished and we spent the next 2 hours searching for them, with no luck. The grass is too long at the moment. Its my belief that the same group is moving around between Diepsloot, Summit Road and Mnandi and that they rotate their areas so as not to get caught. Each time its one guy with a firearm and the rest have knives, same MO, They know we have been looking for them in Mnandi, watch out in the other areas because if my logic is right they will be back to Fourways/Diepsloot area next. The Mnandi Burt wag is very active in the area but can not be everywhere at once, if you see the guys in their bakkies please say thanks to them they are trying to help all of us.

 

Just on another note a lot of riders do not read the Hub, and do not know where these hijackings are taking place, any ideas how we could get word out to non hubbers so that the general public can be warned before someone gets killed ? Also could all of the thefts, cycle safety, and hijacking issues be combined to the same thread ? its in different locations and people maybe missing the info.

[cat-i]

 

Just on another note a lot of riders do not read the Hub, and do not know where these hijackings are taking place, any ideas how we could get word out to non hubbers so that the general public can be warned before someone gets killed ? Also could all of the thefts, cycle safety, and hijacking issues be combined to the same thread ? its in different locations and people maybe missing the info.

notices at bike shops? if their staff know, they might share it a with a customer, someone else might overhear it ... getting the message out?