Ernest Smith

Ernest Smith (1981 - 2002)

Brief overview:

Ernest (21), a young Pinetown hijack victim died after being dragged for more than 300m while clinging to the door of his Citi Golf car. Police believe that Ernest, put up a brave fight after he was hijacked at a stop street in Pinetown early on Monday morning. It is believed that Smith, who was thrown out of his car by the hijackers, had latched on to the back door of his car while the hijackers sped off. Detectives who are trying to piece together Smith's death believe that as he hung on to the handle of the car door his killers wound down the window and started slashing at his face, hands and neck with knives. Smith, who is believed to have died from a loss of blood, was found lying in the road with the car door handle lying next to his hand.

Police on the scene told The Mercury that "because of the amount of blood all over the road" it was evident that Smith had held on to the door handle as the driver tried to shake him off. Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen said that Smith's body was found by a man who was walking to the shop. "As the man walked towards the shop they spotted the blood trail in the road and began following it," said Veldhuizen. She said that as they rounded a bend in the road they spotted Smith's body sprawled in the gutter.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Street/Suburb
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20020406005452/http://www.hixnet.co.za:...