Witnesses relive chaos at CT airport shooting
‘Gangster’ survives third attempt on life
Two men have described the “pandemonium” that broke out at Cape Town International Airport on Wednesday when an alleged underworld kingpin came under fire.
At about 5.15am, gunmen opened fire on Jerome “Donkey” Booysen‚ the alleged leader of the Sexy Boys‚ the third attempt on his life this year.
He was hit four times while a bystander was struck by a stray bullet. Richard Hazelden said he and his colleague had just arrived at the airport when the shots were fired. People in the queue instantly dropped to the ground.
“Others just bombarded the metal detector and people just ran through it. It was like super pandemonium. I honestly thought this was a shoot-out. I looked up from the ground and saw this guy and his daughter holding each other on the floor‚ and there were just tears.
“I then crawled to a pillar because I thought‚ if this is a mass shooting‚ they are going to shoot at the mass of bodies on the ground. It all happened so quickly. We were all looking around, there was no security,” Hazelden said.
His colleague, Dylan Roux, said he ran through the metal detector. “I thought I was going to die. I was 100% certain I was going to die‚’’ Roux said.
Strangely‚ a while after the shots were fired‚ people got up and continued as if “nothing had ever happened”.
Hazelden said there was no public announcement and he only found out what had happened when he arrived in Johannesburg. Comedian Siv Ngesi was also at the airport.
“No one seemed scared. We didn’t know what was happening. When I walked to the gate‚ I saw that it was empty. Then I heard what had happened.
“It’s my birthday today‚ which started with a bang. And now I am in Johannesburg for a shoot,” Ngesi joked.
Community safety MEC Dan Plato wanted to know why Booysen was the target of yet another murder attempt.
Last month, Booysen’s vehicle was peppered with bullets near his Bellville home in Cape Town’s northern suburbs. In May‚ he was shot twice in the neck in Ravensmead on the Cape Flats.
One of Booysen’s associates‚ who did not want to be named‚ said he was still in hospital but doing “okay”.
“This is a serious one‚’’ the man said.
Another acquaintance said he had undergone surgery.
A third associate said he had been shot four times, while Brigadier Vish Naidoo said no arrests had been made.