Shooting survivor speaks out
Gun shot survivor tells tale of his morning scuffle with two robbers.
It took a Pretoria shooting victim some time to discover he was facing a genuine firearm.
‘It was when the man pulled the trigger the fourth time and I saw a flame from the gun that I realised the gun was real,’ says Simiso Ngwenya, an electrician at Archers Edge, east of Pretoria.
Ngwenya was hit twice when he confronted two robbers inside the archery shop in Moreleta Park recently.
One of the burglars was killed when his accomplice accidentally shot him in the head.
Ngwenya from Zimbabwe said most of what happened around 03:45 on a Friday morning about two weeks ago, was like a dream.
“I remember hearing a sound outside and woke up to investigate. I opened the door and to my surprise there was a man standing there holding the door.”
Ngwenya said the perpetrator immediately attempted to flee.
“I grabbed him, we wrestled.”
The man ran outside to his accomplice who was armed.
“I remember the robber had the gun to my face and he started squeezing the trigger. The gun clicked but nothing happened.”
He said he assumed the gun was not real and tackled the burglar to the ground.
“The gun fell out of his hand and the other accomplice picked it up. The robber I was wrestling ordered his accomplice to shoot,” Ngwenya said.
He said there were several pulls of the trigger and on the fourth the gun fired.
Several more shots were fired but only two hit Ngwenya while another struck the accomplice who had ordered the shooting in the head.
“We were wrestling and after the shots I felt him get heavier in my hands. I realised he was dead. As I took my hands off him, they were covered in blood.”
Ngwenya said at this stage, he was not aware he had been hit.
The man turned around, stepped on a dustbin and jumped over the wall.
“I chased him, but after about 400 metres later, I felt strange and stopped,” he said.
The shooter had fled.
Ngwenya said he realised as he walked back to the shop that he had been hit.
“I only noticed the wound in my thigh,” he said.
He had also been hit in the shoulder.
He said tried to ring his brother but his phone was off, he then called shop manager Redge Grant to tell him of the shooting.
In the meantime, his brother, Peace, had been awoken by the commotion, and ran to the manager’s residence.
But Grant had already been on the phone with Simiso, and was on his way to the shop when he ran into Peace.
Back at the shop they found Simiso lying on the ground.
“The first thing he told me was that he was fine, he was alive,” said Grant.
Simiso was taken to Steve Biko academic hospital, and later told Rekord that his wounds were healing still sore.
“I’m on my way to the clinic because my leg wound needs new dressing,” he said.
He said he was glad everyone was okay.
A prayer meeting to thank God for keeping everyone safe would be held on 26 June, at the shop said Ngwenya.
He said he was going to Zimbabwe later during the week but would be back for the prayer
Netcare911 spokesperson Athlenda Mathe confirmed the shooting and said medics responded to scene of the attempted robbery on the corner of Wekker Road and De Villebois Mareuil Drive.
Garsfontein police spokesperson Warrant Officer Dave Miller said the robber was still at large and police were investigating.
“We [police] have some information on the suspect and we are following up on the lead.”
Also read:
Man killed in shooting east of city
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