Construction heroes would do it again

Bricks-versus-bullets workers praised for saving resident from hijackers

AGROUP of heroic construction workers would not think twice about doing the same again after defending an Edenvale resident against would-be hijackers in a bricks-against-bullets standoff. The 28 workers, of CT Building Contractors, were on the second floor of a house under construction at the weekend when one of them saw a motorist catapulting into his driveway with another vehicle hot on his heels.

“Lunchtime was almost over when I saw the man from next door rushing into his house, with a Golf 7 following behind him,” one of the construction workers, who did not want to be named, said.

“I noticed that the security guard of the estate had tried to run and had injured himself.

“When I saw a person wearing a balaclava with a gun‚ I just took a rock and threw it at his car. It hit the windscreen.

“I screamed and called my other colleagues and they also starting flinging rocks at the car of the hijackers‚” he said.

At this point‚ Dino Salgado – the target of the hijackers – had managed to drive his vehicle into his garage and shut it behind him‚ while the men in overalls took on the gunmen outside his garage door.

“I think when the rock hit the car‚ they [the group of hijackers] thought someone was shooting at them‚” the construction worker said.

The balaclava-wearing men got out of the vehicle and three tried to open the gate leading to the house, which had closed behind them‚ leaving them trapped in their intended victim’s yard.

One started shooting at the builders, but the group continued to hurl stones and rocks.

“It was like something from a movie,” the worker said.

“I had never heard a gun being fired that close to me.

“Eventually‚ one of the hijackers got into the car and rammed it through the gate and they all got in and the car sped down the road.”

Police drove into the estate about three minutes later.

They had come from the opposite direction from where the gang had driven off in their battered vehicle.

Meanwhile‚ the man who narrowly escaped the hijacking took to Facebook to honour his heroes.

“They continued to throw these rocks while the guy shot at them, until the car fled with a broken windshield‚ mirror caps etc,” he said in his post.

“I would just like to thank the 28 workers who launched that endless volley of debris at the hijackers so that I had enough time to speed into my garage and close it.

“Nice to see South Africans united against crime‚ you guys are champions!”

His post had been shared thousands of times on several platforms by yesterday and the construction team has won an outpouring of praise, with 1 200 comments generated from just one Facebook thread.

Yvonne Hellyar posted that she viewed their action as “the power of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Maybe the lesson for all of us here‚ is to just ‘do something – anything’. Don’t ignore evil. Wonderful heroes!”

Edna Segopa commented: “This means not all South African brothers support crimes. Some of our brothers are prepared to fight tooth and nail against crime.Well done beautiful African brothers. Keep up the good spirit.”

Napster Namane extended his thanks to them for their bravery: “Another family got to see another day. We need more like you to make this country great.”

The construction company’s owner said he was grateful to work with such heroic men.

Richard Munro said he trusted his workers with his life.

He said people were bringing gifts of appreciation for the team‚ with some pizzas being delivered yesterday.