Transport kingpin speaks out after hit
THE Macekane businessman who survived an assassination attempt in Empangeni last Wednesday is recovering well in hospital.
Trucking and taxi boss, Phiwe Mthembu avoided death as a hail of bullets was fired through the driver’s side window of his Range Rover.
Speaking from his hospital bed on
Friday, Mthembu said he was shocked and traumatised by the life-threatening incident. ‘I had attended a one hour procurement meeting at the company and because it was in the morning and I thought no one else knew about it, I did not bring my bodyguards with me.
‘After the meeting I went straight to my car, which was parked outside the security gate. While I was preparing to start the engine, a gunman emerged out of nowhere. ‘The only thing that separated us, was the window. I came face to face with him. His gun was pointed straight at my face.
‘He started shooting at me and I had nowhere to hide so I quickly decided to dive onto the back seat. That’s how I got shot on the leg,’ he said.
Mthembu, who recently assisted ten struggling local taxi owners, by providing them with brand new minibus taxis and is still nurturing them, said he did not recognise the gunman. ‘Something tells me that he was not from the taxi or the trucking industry. I hope the police will be able to track him down so that we will know the reasons for the assassination attempt,’ he said.
King Cetshwayo Police Cluster spokesperson, Captain Mbongeni Mdlalose, said a case of attempted murder is still under investigation and no arrest has been made.