Hijackings don’t usually have happy endings. This one did, because an observant security officer trusted his instincts.
Johannesburg, South Africa (02 September 2026) – A hijacking in Bryanston last week ended, unexpectedly, with a heartwarming reunion. And it’s all because one security officer noticed something that didn’t look quite right.
In the last week of August, a woman was hijacked in Bryanston with her two dogs in the car. She was dropped off elsewhere, but her dogs were left in the vehicle with the hijackers.
Later, somewhere in Wynberg – an industrial area near Sandton – the suspects let the dogs out of the car and drove off, leaving them alone in an unfamiliar place. Thankfully, the right set of eyes spotted them and knew something seemed…strange.
Officer Atang Nyanintsimbi, with 24/7 Security Services, was starting his evening shift at 6 pm when he spotted two dogs wandering the streets of the mostly industrial area, where dogs don’t typically tend to be out roaming on their own. It just didn’t sit right with him.
“Something about the sight immediately struck him as unusual. Wynberg is predominantly an industrial area, and it is not common to see dogs wearing collars wandering the streets unattended.” the security provider tells us.
Instead of driving on, Officer Nyanintsimbi stopped and took a few photos. He then posted them to the local WhatsApp group to see if anyone recognised them. That small action turned out to matter a great deal!
The company’s cluster manager, Sylvester Shikweni, saw the photos and remembered a hijacking case reported earlier that day. One where the victim had mentioned her two dogs were still in the car. Could this be them?
It was! Once the dogs were confirmed as the missing pair, Officer Nyanintsimbi was sent straight back out to find them again.
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By this point, night had fallen, and the dogs had already wandered off from where he’d first seen them. Officer Nyanintsimbi spent some time driving the surrounding streets before finally tracking them down again.
Catching them was another story. Understandably terrified, the dogs wouldn’t let him get close enough to get them into his vehicle safely. So a K9 team was called in. Handlers Keenan Stewart and Ethyn Pretorius, who know how to work with frightened animals.
They approached slowly, gave the dogs water, and stayed with them for close to an hour just keeping them calm. One of the dogs is deaf, so the usual trick of a soft, reassuring voice didn’t help much. Instead, she found her own way to feel safe and climbed onto one of the officer’s laps. That’s where she stayed until help arrived.
The owner was called and rushed to the scene. She identified both dogs immediately, and after what had been an awful day, finally got to take them home with her.
Hijackings are frightening enough on their own. When pets get caught up in them too, the fear and helplessness only multiply. This time, though, the story had a different ending. A traumatic day ended in a family cuddle, thanks to the alertness of a security officer who decided to stop and check things out – and every good thing that happened after that!
“A photograph, a WhatsApp message, a manager who made the connection, an officer who went back to search and a K9 Unit willing to sit patiently with two frightened dogs until their owner arrived. For two dogs who found themselves lost on the streets of Wynberg, Officer Nyanintsimbi’s observation made all the difference.”
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