‘I did not stage my own hit’
Kunene says attackers wanted him dead
Socialite Kenny Kunene has denied staging his own attempted assassination, saying he had survived a real life-threatening incident and was lucky to live to tell the story.
The car Kunene was travelling in was shot at at least 13 times, he said. However, the car has five bullets holes.
Kunene, an ex-convict, was driving a friend’s BMW 125i when two gunmen opened fire at them in Waverley, northern Johannesburg, on Tuesday evening.
When asked if there was someone who wanted him dead, Kunene said: “I don’t owe people money as I do clean business. I go anywhere and everywhere freely, even in the townships.”
He said although it seemed “irresponsible” to link the shooting with media “exposure” of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s alleged extramarital affairs, it was “the only reasonable explanation”.
Kunene said he had spent the earlier part of the evening with Sunday Independent editor, Steve Motale, his friend of more than 20 years, who he left in his Sandton office when the incident happened. “I see my friend Steve Motale every day, and even when he started getting death threats on Friday.”
Motale admitted to TimesLIVE being with Kunene on the night of the shootout.
“I am not the complainant; I’m not the one that reported this to the police. Speak to Kunene for more details. But yes I was with him before the incident took place,” he said
Motale made headlines at the weekend after questions he apparently sent Ramaphosa about alleged extramarital affairs went viral.
Kunene also said his online newspaper Weekly Xpose did a detailed story showing e-mails and videos on the same Ramaphosa story.
He said the hitmen could have thought he was with Motale on Tuesday evening. “Or maybe I was also a target and they happened to track me.”
Kunene said he was with a friend and driving her car when they were ambushed by a white Lexus, which overtook them at high speed and stopped in front of them at the intersection of Scott Street and Corlett Drive near the M1 highway.
Kunene said the gunmen seemed not interested in robbing or hijacking them.
Gauteng police spokeswoman Brigadier Mathapelo Peters confirmed that a case of attempted murder was opened at Norwood police station.