UBER RIDE FROM HELL

A PRIMARY school juffrou is recovering from injuries after a nightmare ride home from school, during which she jumped out of a moving vehicle to escape an alleged attempted attack involving an Uber driver.

Police have confirmed an attempted kidnapping case was under investigation. 

Last Thursday, 26-year-old Denusha Nicholas, a teacher at Vlottenburg Primary in Stellenbosch had booked an Uber ride to take her to Stellendale, Kuils River where she lives, around 3pm.

Her suspicions were raised when the driver drove in the opposite direction of her destination, towards Eerste River. 

She said: “When I asked him why are you driving in that direction, he didn’t answer. We kept driving, then I saw he moved his rearview mirror towards me. 

“I then called my mother and told her this man is watching me and I do not feel comfortable. She said share your live location and she prayed for me on the phone.

“Then I asked him I am going to change my trip to Zevenwacht Mall, so he said he doesn’t understand English. Then he locked the doors and I asked him why are you locking the doors now. Then he said you are going to see what’s going to happen.” 

Nicholas said the entire time she was feeling very anxious. 

“I told myself I am not going to be another statistic for my parents to find me deceased along the road. I prayed for calm and decided to jump for my life. I just jumped.”

After the incident, luckily two men who were driving on the opposite side of the road witnessed the incident and came to her aid. 

Uber said they were aware of the incident and were working with police to support their investigation.

They did not respond to questions around whether the driver was still on the app. 

Police spokesperson, Wesley Twigg said: “Kuils River police registered an attempted kidnapping case for investigation following an incident on Thursday, 28 August 2025, at about 15:26, in Polkadraai Road.

"According to reports, the 26-year-old victim requested an e-hailing service to go home. The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation and arrests are yet to be made.”

Anyone with any information about this incident can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or use the mobile application MySAPS anonymously.