As an armed man raised his firearm and fired shots at a presidential convoy, the person believed to be the target of an alleged assassination attempt, says he thought the car had been hit by stones.
It was only after the vehicle was thoroughly inspected did he realise it had been bullets.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile recounted the day his convoy was fired at.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of a recent visit to the KwaSizabantu mission in KwaZulu-Natal on Sunday, Mashatile confirmed that an investigation is under way.
He added that he did not know the motive for the shooting.
“They [police] are investigating, but for now there is nothing to worry about. Let’s focus on work,” he said.
Mashatile had been travelling home from an African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting when a vehicle in his convoy was shot at in Boksburg, Gauteng.
“You must have heard that the police are investigating. What happened is that as I was driving from the NEC, my car was hit by what initially I thought were stones, and when we got home, the protectors said the impact was too much, and they want to take it for checking because you know a bulletproof windscreen is too strong to be damaged.
“That’s why they are doing the investigation,” Mashatile said.
Mashatile’s spokesperson, Keith Khoza, had initially confirmed the incident to IOL.
According to Khoza, the matter was not previously made public because investigators were trying to establish the type of firearm used.
Police declined to comment further on the matter.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics
