David Coltart is adamant that foul play could have been attempted on his car after taking his vehicle to the mechanic.
The mechanic discovered that there was a part which was loosened. Read what he said below:
“Last week I was advised by the mechanic who maintains my car that an attempt has been made to sabotage my vehicle. As will appear from the attached affidavit statement made by him before local lawyer Brazhnev Mathonsi the front left brake system of my vehicle has been interfered with since the vehicle was last serviced. As is stated, my mechanic is adamant that this was sabotage – he says it is impossible for that particular valve to come loose of its own accord and he personally checked the braking system the last time it was serviced. Had I travelled in the car approximately another 100 to 200 kms the brake system would have totally failed with potentially devastating consequences for me and my family, including my grandchildren who routinely are driven in that car. I have sought to protect the identity of the mechanic so that he is not affected by this statement. I am grateful to him for his diligence and professionalism.
This is now the fourth time in the last 23 years that vehicles I use have been tampered with. The first occurred to a Nissan vehicle in the early 2000s when the brake lines were cut. The second occurred to the same vehicle a year later when the right inside tyre was deliberately burnt in a small area with the intention of causing it to burst. The worst was in 2012 when some of the front left wheel nuts were loosened in the same car affected by this incident, and the entire front left wheel came off when I was driving the car with my wife and youngest daughter in the vehicle with me. I of course have a good idea who is behind all of these attempts to cause me and my family harm. It is part and parcel of a modus which has used effectively against many people over decades.
However what I need to convey to you all is that my overwhelmingly dominant emotion isn’t fear but gratitude. In the first two acts of sabotage to my vehicle I was saved by fortuitous sequences which revealed the sabotage. In the 3rd event in 2012 the wheel came off at a point where I was travelling slowly; literally if the wheel had come off 500 meters before or after a serious accident would have happened. In other words in all three I was saved by the good Lord’s providence.
Exactly the same has happened in the latest incident. My vehicle was not due for a service for about another 500 kms and so the brakes would have failed well before the next service. However a warning light came on 10 days ago that my timing belt needed attention (something completely unconnected to the brake system). I took the car into my mechanic and I asked him to attend to the timing belt – and said he may as well service it early! Because he is so diligent he checked the brake system and discovered that someone had loosened the valve which channels brake fluid into the brake calliper. In other words providentially a warning light came up which then revealed this sinister act, before it could do harm. I have no doubt that warning was the good Lord’s doing.
A few weeks ago in my daily readings I read Psalm 27. Although broadly comforting then it did not have the same impact as it does now on reading it again:
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked advance against me
to devour me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I will be confident.
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me high upon a rock.”
Whilst I have of course taken this attempt as a stark reminder that there are people in Zimbabwe who wish me harm, and will act with more caution going forward, this incident has been a profound reminder to me and my family that the Lord is trustworthy and I have nothing to fear so long as He is the stronghold of my life”.
