WATCH: CapeTalk's John Maytham (70) opens up about being robbed, assaulted on M3

"Next thing, punch in the face, slap in the face, thrown to the ground, phone snatched out of my hand, and off they run across the highway..."

CapeTalk Afternoon Drive show presenter John Maytham was robbed and assaulted on the M3 highway on Tuesday night while changing a tyre on the roadside.

His car’s tyre had burst around 9:30 pm, and while attempting to fix it in the dark, two men crossed the highway offering to help, before attacking him.

Shaken but uninjured, Maytham tried to chase them but could not reach their vehicle before they drove off.

Stranded with a flat car battery and no phone, Maytham said not a single passing car stopped to help during the hour he spent waving for assistance. 

After eventually managing to report the crime, he reflected on the ordeal.

"I didn't sleep on Tuesday night, not one little bit," he says.

"This is running through my brain; could I have done anything differently? Did I bring it on myself? What if they'd finished changing the tyre, put all the stuff in the boot, and then held a gun at my head, or knifed me, or attacked me more physically? And then I think, 'I'm lucky'".