Health official due to testify in hearing shot

AN EASTERN Cape department of health official due to testify in an internal disciplinary hearing against a colleague today was shot and wounded while driving home on Tuesday night.

Mzimasi Lusasa, 55, a manager at the provincial department’s Buffalo City Metro sub-district office in Western Avenue, Vincent, is fighting for his life at an East London hospital after three gunmen driving in a Toyota Corolla opened fire on him, hitting him in the chest.

Lusasa is in charge of all primary health facilities in the district and is responsible for running all 140 clinics in the metro.

The drive-by shooting took place near the police park sports grounds in Vincent, Cambridge police spokesman Captain Nkosikho Mzuku said.

Police are investigating a case of attempted murder.

“It is alleged that a 55-year-old senior official from the department of health was shot in the chest by an occupant in a passing Toyota Corolla while he was driving home. The victim was rushed to a local hospital,” Mzuku said.

The Corolla sped off towards King William’s Town. Its occupants remain at large.

Eastern Cape provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said one bullet had entered Lusasa’s chest.

“We can confirm that a senior health official . . . was shot and wounded yesterday on the road between Hemingways and Cambridge,” he said.

“Yes, we can confirm that the official was due to testify in an internal disciplinary matter scheduled for today.”

Kupelo said the department would not make any preemptive statements, but would allow the police to do their investigation.

“We do not want to speculate. Further questions should be directed to the police.”

Dispatch reporter Aretha Linden came across the shooting scene while driving home.

She reported seeing a man in a white shirt lying on the side of the road with blood coming from his chest. A section of the road was cordoned off for several hours.—