Businessman dodges death
Ten shots fired through Range Rover window
DESPITE a hail of bullets fired through his driver’s side window, a Macekane Reserve businessman survived a brutal assassination attempt on Wednesday morning.
Phiwe Mthembu miraculously escaped death as an unknown gunman sprang out and opened fire as he sat in his Range Rover outside the Tronox KZN Sands security gate in Empangeni.
According to an eye witness, the unknown hit man appeared ‘out of nowhere’ and poured at least ten 9mm shots at Mthembu from close range.
He was not fatally wounded and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital with multiple injuries but in a stable condition, with the ambulance escorted by police. ‘We heard gunshots going off and when we went out to investigate, we spotted a gunman fleeing the scene on foot,’ said the source.
The motive for the attempted killing is not known.
Mthembu is a successful entrepreneur and politician who recently resigned from the National Freedom Party to join the Economic Freedom Fighters. His wife, Happy KhuzwayoMthembu, said she does not have information on how the shooting incident occurred.
‘I can’t comment as the matter is still under investigation. I only arrived at the scene after being informed about the incident,’ she said. King Cetshwayo Police Cluster spokesperson, Captain Mbongeni Mdlalose, said a case of attempted murder was registered at Empangeni SAPS, and no arrest has been made.