Business man escapes death again
“I managed to duck and dive hiding behind the counters, before I sneaked out and escaped,” he explained his ordeal.
MASHAMOTHANE – In less than a month, a well-known businessman in, Mr Chaka Hlongwa, has escaped death on two occasions.
First he was attacked by three unknown men who shot at him while he was travelling on the R37 road on September 1. He managed to escape with only a minor injury.
Hlongwa thought they wouldn’t do it agnation, but he was wrong. On the night of September 26, three gunmen stormed into his restaurant (TCN Road house and grills), unleashed gunshots at him, his staff and a friend.
“I managed to duck and dive hiding behind the counters, before I sneaked out and escaped,” he explained his ordeal.
The attackers fired six shots at Hlongwa’s friend which perforated his stomach. One of the staff members was shot in the thigh. They are being treated at a local hospital.
“I no longer feel safe, I don’t know who to trust and my life is in danger,” Hlongwa told Steelburger/Lydenburg News.
He alleges that he knows the person behind this violence and that he was attacked because he is the chairman of a development forum that controls the place where people dig sand in the area.
“I refused him permission to start mining in the area without legal rights from the community,” Hlongwa said.
He also alleged that the same person was offered a mining licence by the Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) without consultation with various stakeholders and community members.
He described the man who wants him dead as a famous tycoon in the Tubatse area and alleged that he benefited from a lot of mining tenders in Sekhukhune.
Hlongwa said he opened a case of attempted murder at the Tubatse Police Station on the night of the first attack.
The Tubatse police confirmed this and that investigation was still underway, but no suspects had as yet been arrested.
Meanwhile community members in the area complained about a fence erected by the same businessman who is rumoured to be after Hlongwa. They alleged that he had fenced most parts of the village for business purposes and this would result in their cattle starving. “The fenced area used to be grazing for our livestock, now our animals will die of hunger because of him,” they complained.
The induna in the area, Mr William Malatji, said he did not know what had led to the area being fenced off and promised to call the community for an imbizo in order to discuss the issue.
