The spate of attacks on the N2 highway near Cape Town airport has left some motorists so traumatised that they are considering paying up to R1.2-million to have their car armoured.
Horrific stories of people being attacked on the highway by men who throw concrete blocks and bricks at cars have come to light recently. The police refuse to say how many such cases have been reported but at the weekend they arrested six men accused of attacking motorists.
A businessman from the Cape Winelands, who asked not to be named, is considering having his car armoured after being attacked on the highway recently.
A man threw a piece of concrete through his windscreen.
"I thought it had killed my son but he was okay. Then I realised my wife had been hit on the right upper arm. It split the bone."
His wife now has a plate in her arm held by eight screws.
"I have friends who will allow their children to drive to Cape Town only in a bulletproof car," he said.
Friends of his said they had been forced to slow their vehicle in the vicinity of where he had been attacked. While they were stationary, thugs appeared between the vehicles, smashed windows and robbed motorists.
Grant Anderson, the managing director of Armormax, a company specialising in armouring cars, said: "We have noticed an increase in queries from Cape Town and a number of potential clients have specifically mentioned the rock-throwing issue on the freeway.
"We are seeing a steady increase in sales."
The most commonly armoured vehicles include the Toyota, Lexus and Range Rover. Many of Anderson's clients are women.
Armouring a car costs between R450 000 and R1.2-million.
Security has been heightened on the highway by increasing patrols, expanding CCTV monitoring and clearing vegetation along the road.
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