Child shot at Shakaskraal taxi rank making miraculous recovery
The bullet reportedly broke apart before hitting her and did not penetrate her scull.
The six-year-old girl who was shot in the head, apparently by a taxi security guard, at the Shakaskraal taxi rank on Monday morning, is awake and talking to doctors at Stanger Hospital.
“Miraculously the doctor said that the bullet did not penetrate her scull,” said her mother Zandile Mbovana.
Zandile said she was sitting in the taxi, due to leave for Ballito, with her daughter Precious on her lap when she heard a gunshot.
“The next thing my baby girl was injured, at that moment I was deaf and the only thing I wanted to hear was my child. I had to get my child to the clinic,” she said.
At the clinic Zandile stood traumatised next to the IPSS Medical Rescue ambulance, her eyes full of tears, with her daughter’s dried blood still on her face – while Precious was given emergency medical treatment.
Umhlali SAPS spokesperson Vinny Pillay said the taxi was due to leave the rank for Ballito when one of the security guards hired by the Dolphin Coast Taxi Association stopped the taxi to ask the driver if his taxi was overloaded.
“The driver reportedly shook his head and the security guard asked the driver if he wanted to die and pointed his firearm at him. He then fired. The driver ducked and the bullet hit the child sitting on her mother’s lap in the seat behind the him,” said Pillay.
The bullet went through the glass panel behind the driver and hit the child in the head.
Another woman was also injured in the shooting, apparently by flying debris.
“The security guard was arrested and charged with attempted murder, for now, and we are investigating how the other victim was injured,” said Pillay.
Zandile said she was disappointed that no one from the Dolphin Coast Taxi Association or the security company had visited or tried to make contact with her.
Anyone who would like to assist Precious can email news@northcoastcourier.co.za.
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