Businessman’s long ride of terror
Shots were fired at the vehicle and the driver took a bullet to the thigh.
THE driver of a courier van came under attack while travelling from Port Elizabeth to Port Shepstone recently.
The 53-year-old Marburg man had been working in the Eastern Cape and was returning home when shots were fired at his vehicle near Brook’s Nek.
He was travelling with his assistant and they were about three kilometres away from Kokstad at about 9pm when he heard a loud noise.
“I saw a car on my right trying to force me to stop. Then my side window shattered and I knew that we were under attack,” said the man.
He reacted quickly, driving and in a zigzag pattern to avoid being shot or cornered by his attackers. Further shots were fired but they missed the vehicle.
“While speeding away, I felt something warm on my leg. I looked down and saw that I had been shot,” he said.
The man then drove to Kokstad CBD and stopped a police vehicle. He was taken to Kokstad Hospital and later transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban were a bullet was removed from his right thigh.
He has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home.
He called on all South Coasters to be very careful when travelling in the Brook’s Nek area at night.
“I would advise all courier companies to stay away from that section of road between 8pm and 4am. Criminals are targeting panel vans and will go to great lengths to get their hands on the vehicle or the cargo you carry,” he warned.
He added that Eastern Cape police are investigating a case of attempted hijacking. No arrests have yet been made.
