A Philippi man was left shocked and traumatised after he was hit by a stray bullet while walking in the street last Saturday.
The bullet struck him on his right thigh and the man says he did not bother to open a case with the police.
The incident prevented him from spending Easter weekend with his family in Qonce in the Eastern Cape.
The devastated man, who asked not to be named out of fear, said he was coming from a friend in Samora Machel when he was struck by the bullet.
“While I was going down from the bridge I could hear gunshots. But I was so naive that I thought the shots were not meant for me and they sounded a bit far away from where I was. Little did I know that one would catch me. I was alerted by people that I was bleeding. When I checked, the blood was streaming down my leg.”
The man said he is lucky to be alive. “Let me say God is good. Imagine if I was shot dead and no one knew where I was. My mother would have died of a heart attack. I also thank my ancestors that I was shot in the leg not head or heart for that matter,” he said.
After seeing the injury he was rushed to a local clinic. He said he took an iphela taxi to the clinic and the driver was “very helpful”. “He could have refused because I was bleeding but he assisted even in trying to stop the bleeding. We have been saying all the bad things about those chaps but on the day he was my saviour. I am grateful to him and the people who saw me and helped.”
His heartbroken mother said she got a call from him saying he was at the clinic because he was shot. She said her sugar level went up because she thought her son was dying but he assured her it was not serious. “I feared the worst, but was relieved when he told me he was still alive. I got frustrated when I could not go to the clinic he was in. But I chose to wait because he told me not to worry. A day later his face swelled and I got more worried. But he was better later. I thank God that he was not shot dead or left paralysed,” she said.
The mother said it was worrying that there are shootings everywhere in the townships. She said her prayer is for police to remove all the illegal guns from the streets. “We live in fear of guns from our own children. You wonder where all these guns are coming from. We need to pray that one day police will confiscate all these guns that are used to kill us. We are in danger and will be for as long as these guns are out there and we do not know where they come from.”
A friend could only say: “This is really devastating. Our areas are dangerous of late. There are always shootings meaning everyone can be shot out of the blue. I am happy he is strong and not showing any signs of crippling,” he said.
Ward 34 councillor Melikhaya Gadeni said he was not aware of the incident, however, it was possible because crime is a challenge in all the Philippi areas. “Crime in our areas is extremely high,” he said.
