Artist survives execution-style shooting in broad daylight robbery

What started as a normal morning at his 7th Avenue shop nearly became a death sentence for artist and entrepreneur Tshepo Ramoepane last month after he was shot two times in broad daylight.

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On March 8, Ramoepane was shot in the head at point blank range after he resisted a robbery attempt. Eyewitnesses said the criminals continued their assault even after bystanders pleaded with the suspects to stop.

The 29-year-old said three men, including two alleged local criminals, approached him and tried to forcefully take his merchandise.

“I was at my shop at 7th Avenue when three guys came, one had a screwdriver, another carried a brown side bag. They demanded my stock, and when I resisted, one pulled a gun and pointed it at me. I tried to get away from them.”

What followed was a near execution. After initially being shot in his shoulder, which knocked him to the ground, he said the gunman approached and fired again, this time at his head.

“I went blank but somehow stood up, holding my head, trying to keep balance.”

According to his mother Lebohang, eyewitnesses recognised at least one attacker. She said they told her that a woman at the scene called out to the suspect with the screwdriver by name, begging him to stop, especially since he had just buried his mother. But he did not.

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After the shooting, Ramoepane’s friend rushed to help and pleaded with taxi drivers to take him to the clinic.

“They all refused,” Ramoepane recalled, adding that they feared getting their vehicles stained with blood. He said a local woman who knows him drove him to the Masakhane Clinic.

“Masakhane Clinic said they cannot deal with it because I might die. At that time, I was losing consciousness. They told me that when my mother called, I even answered the phone and spoke to her, but I don’t remember.”

The staff at Masakhane sent him to Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital, where doctors discovered that the bullet had passed cleanly through his skull, from his right to his left, without major damage. However, his ordeal was not over, and after being discharged three days later, he suffered a seizure, requiring readmission.

He filed a case on March 9, securing a J88 medical form and case number. Of the three men who were allegedly involved, the gunman was arrested early in April, one suspect remains at large, and the third was not considered by police as taking part in the robbery.

“They went to his house [suspect at large], and they found his granny, who said she last saw him after his mother’s funeral, which was a weekend before my son was shot.”

Ramoepane, now recovering, reflected on his survival. “Many don’t survive headshots. Maybe it was my ancestors, maybe it was God.”

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