BAD TRIP - Chris Chameleon reveals conspiracy after N2 accident in rental car

Actor and musician Chris Chameleon has shared a detailed account of a tense roadside ordeal on the N2, describing how both tyres on the left side of his rental car were destroyed after he struck an unidentified object near a section of highway he says is “known for crime”.

Chameleon said he was driving toward Cape Town at about 7:30pm, “just passed the Baden Powell turnoff”, when the incident happened. “The car in front of me was about 100m ahead and seemed to be fine. Then I hit something really hard,” he wrote. “I thought it might be a plank or piece of wood and it completely destroyed both my left tyres as well as the wheels.”

He continued driving for a few hundred metres until he reached a well-lit area. “I wanted to get out of the car as quickly as possible because if you are trapped in your vehicle there is nowhere to go,” he said. A recovery vehicle then stopped beside him. “I became really more worried when another car stopped simultaneously. It turned out to be a recovery vehicle.”

Because he was “driving a rental vehicle”, he phoned the rental company, which warned him “not to let anyone tow the vehicle as if something went wrong it would be my responsibility”. While he was still on the phone, a missed call came through. Moments later, the recovery driver claimed the rental company wanted to speak to him. “I told him that I had just spoken to Avis and that they should contact me directly if they want to speak to me. This is South Africa and you need to play it safe.”

Another call then came from the earlier missed number. “The person on the line told me they were from Avis and that they had been talking to the driver of the recovery vehicle. They told me everything was fine and that I can allow the driver to tow me.”

More tow trucks arrived, with paperwork handed to him “so fast”. When he said he wanted to check what he had hit, he was told “it was dangerous and that the object had been moved already”.

Later, the driver taking him to the airport told him the area was a hotspot and that he could “be almost sure that those people who put the object in the road were watching us all the time”.

After reflecting overnight, Chameleon said he reached two possible conclusions. “One is that it’s a conspiracy… However, this leads me to my other conclusion which is that I had been extremely unlucky but extremely lucky at the same time.”