Social Media Used for Good as Fourways Community Speaks Up

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A social media post about frightening behaviour at a busy Johannesburg intersection has shown just how quickly a community can come together and turn concern into action.

Johannesburg, South Africa (03 October 2026) – 1 social media post. More than 100 women coming forward. And less than 24 hours later, 8 police officers standing at the intersection where it all started. This is what can happen when social media stops being about likes, views and algorithms and starts bringing people together to actually do something.

Sam Wright, better known online as Tech Girl, took to social media this week to raise serious concerns about a man operating at the intersection of Witkoppen and Main Road in Fourways.

“For months, this man has been violent and attempted to intimidate women drivers. He bangs on our car bonnets, windows and attempts to swipe at side mirrors. He spits on vehicles.”

“Today he stood in front of my car so I could not proceed through the traffic light and then banged along the side of my car.”

“So many women have voiced their fear on various groups about this man & how he behaves.”

“What can we do? I do not want to take my phone out to film him because then I am a prime target for a smash-and-grab, so will look at buying a dash cam. But surely after months of this we must have some sort of system to have him removed?”

“I can’t avoid the intersection but I’m tired of being scared to drive there. He specifically targets women drivers.”

Her social media videos and “I love Fourways” community post quickly racked up thousands of views and hundreds of comments. But far more important than the numbers were the people behind them.

Women began sharing their own experiences. Men came forward too. And within 24 hours, Sam had personally received more than 100 messages from women who related to what she had experienced.

A Good Things Guy reader drove through the intersection the following morning and spotted eight police officers at the corner. Shortly afterwards, the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) confirmed that it had seen the video and was responding to the community’s concerns.

JMPD Chief of Police Commissioner Patrick Jaca has now directed officers to actively monitor the intersection and surrounding hotspots, with an increased police presence. Officers have also been instructed to act against anyone obstructing traffic, intimidating motorists or engaging in criminal behaviour. Importantly, there is a social response too. In a press release issued on Friday, the JMPD says it is working alongside the Department of Social Development on appropriate interventions and support services for displaced people.

For Sam, this was never about getting a video to go viral. When Good Things Guy spoke to her, she was on her way to the police station to formally open a case and was already in contact with councillors and police.

“I just needed to do something,” she told Good Things Guy.

“I’ve spent the last few weeks feeling a mixture of fear and anger and frustration because all we do is read all the stuff online about all these terrible things that are happening and I felt so helpless.”

But she refused to accept that helplessness.

“I can’t live a life where I don’t believe that one voice can make a difference. I can’t live this life where we’re told that there’s nothing we can do.”

At a time when South Africans are confronting devastating reports of gender-based violence and asking what needs to change, we need our police and people in government to respond when communities raise legitimate concerns. We also need active citizens willing to report what is happening, share information and stand alongside each other. In Fourways this week, both happened.

“Within the space of a few hours, many of us who have never met or spoken suddenly built a community that was ready to go and make a change,” Sam explained.

“Every single one of them offered to help. They wanted to be involved to make a change. It was, ‘What can we do? How do we do this together?'”

There is still an important question: will the police presence continue tomorrow, next week and beyond? The JMPD says it will. And the community will undoubtedly be watching to make sure those words become action.

We spend plenty of time talking about what is wrong with social media. This week, Fourways showed us what can be right about it. One person used her voice. Hundreds added theirs. And people listened.