DURBAN - The owner of the security company where three people were shot during a drive-by shooting on Tuesday night said he was distraught after the incident, which claimed two lives.
LSC VIP Protection owner Luvuyo Mzansi said what happened was very hurtful and he was left very shocked.
The man killed was one of his bodyguards assigned to protecting a taxi owner.
Mzansi said he had heard later that the taxi owner they were protecting had also succumbed to his injuries.
“It is very painful. He died with one of the guards,” Mzansi said.
He said the taxi owner’s name was Gcabashe.
“I got along very well with him. We’ve come a long way together and even in the company, he would help me a lot.”
Mzansi said Gcabashe’s killing was taxi related.
“Since he was living in uMdloti he thought he was safe there but obviously people from the taxi industry were after him,” Mzansi said.
He said Gcabashe was also deputy chairperson of the Inanda Taxi Association.
Mzansi said the third victim was still in hospital. He had gone to check on him.
“He got shot in the arm and was due to be transferred to Addington Hospital for the removal of the bullet,” Mzansi said.
He added that they usually came out unscathed during similar attacks and this was the first that had claimed lives.
Netcare 911 spokesperson Shawn Herbst said the shooting had taken place on North Beach Road in uMdloti at 6.50pm.
“Reports indicate that while seated in their vehicle, three people had been shot in a drive-by shooting,” Herbst said.
“One adult male had sustained fatal injuries, and two other adult males had sustained critical injuries.”
“The two patients were treated on scene by paramedics and once stabilised were transported to hospital for further care,” Herbst said.
Reaction Unit South Africa spokesperson Prem Balram said they had received multiple calls from beachgoers after “the occupants of a black Mercedes opened fired with high-calibre rifles on a white Toyota Corolla with LSC VIP Protection branding in the vicinity of the tidal pool. The suspects then sped off”.
Balram said when their officers and medics arrived at the scene they found that a man seated behind the driver was killed.
“Paramedics from a private ambulance service were in the process of conducting cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the driver. A third person was shot in the arm while a fourth occupant of the vehicle fled when the shooting started and returned to the scene thereafter. Several spent high-calibre cartridges were recovered at the scene,” Balram said.
He added that the circumstances behind the shooting had not been confirmed.
Daily News