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South Africans can’t get enough of that Durban woman slamming into the man who allegedly robbed her of her handbag while trying to drive out of the Hillside Bluff Mall.

The 43-year-old resident of the Bluff in Durban South, Sandy-Lee Ward, has spoken out since the viral incident, saying that the thought of driving over her attacker didn’t even cross her mind; all she wanted was her bag and belongings back.

The dramatic footage was caught on CCTV cameras, showing two men approaching her Toyota Tazz at a boom gate next to a petrol station on Wednesday, where they opened the driver’s door and snatched her bag.

At this point, Ward says she started praying and immediately started to drive after the fleeing suspect.

When the suspect reaches the nearest petrol station, you can see him skedaddling across the centre island before her car rams straight into him, flinging him into the air (while her car is also airborne for just a moment), before they both land on the road.

The incident occurred in full view of police who were at the petrol station. Have a look:

WATCH: Bluff, Durban: Cellphone snatcher chased and knocked over by the female victim: she was robbed of her cellphone. pic.twitter.com/ZY5UoPv0g3

— Yusuf Abramjee (@Abramjee) September 28, 2023

TimesLIVE reports that social media is willing to “defend the woman at all costs” if she is charged for knocking down the man:

“Very brave — the hard reality is she may end up in jail, especially with this footage going around. The law in South Africa protects the criminal more than it does an aggrieved victim and is part of the reason we have spiralling crime. This will be a good test of our system,” said Ebrahim Ali.

“This video should be shown at all driving schools on how to deal with [robbers],” said Viresh Singh

News24 notes that Ward recently moved back to Durban from Johannesburg to live with her 74-year-old mother, and said that at the moment, she was most worried about how the nightmare might implicate her mom:

“I was in tears, and for some reason, I kept saying to myself that those are my belongings. I said, ‘God, please, those are my things.’ The weirdest thing is, there was nothing of real value besides my phone.

“And you should see my phone, it is stuck together with sticky tape. The thing that was worrying was the bank documents [with] details of my home. I was thinking of the danger myself and my mum would be in if they had that information.”

The men had apparently hit her multiple times and tried to get her out of the car, but her old Tazz seatbelt had kept her safely stuck.

When she realised that the men had her housekeys, however, “the Lord just put his foot on my foot and I just kept going”:

“I know people are saying I am a hero, but I had no thoughts in my mind of riding over him. I just wanted to get my bag and drove straight into him by mistake.”

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala confirmed that the handbag was recovered while a case of robbery was opened at the Brighton Beach police station.

She added later, “I just didn’t want to have killed someone. I could not live with being a murderer. My intention was just to get my bag,” she said.

The 28-year-old suspect survived the ramming and was arrested at the scene – he is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

[source:news24&timeslive]