COMMUNITY leader Mandla Bawuti (41) from Level Two squatter camp in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, is nursing his wounds.
This comes after he was shot in both legs, allegedly by a traffic cop, two weeks ago.
He told the SunTeam he was on his way home when he saw an unmarked car flashing lights behind him.
He continued driving and stopped only in his neighbourhood as he was worried for his safety.
Bawuti said when he was driving on a two-lane road, the car drove next to him and the driver, in plain clothes, lowered his window and showed him a gun, ordering him to stop.
He got scared and drove faster. When he saw a group of people in Ekuphumleni, he stopped the car. But the minute he stepped out, he was shot.
“The only words I could hear from his mouth after shooting me was ndiyidubule lenja, which means ‘I shot the dog’,” he said.
“Then he handcuffed me while I was bleeding. I asked residents to plead with him to remove the handcuffs but he didn’t have the keys. I lay on the ground bleeding until someone else came with the keys.”
Bawuti, who is self-employed, said his daughter was admitted to university but he did not have money for registration fees.
He said he used to rent out cars to provide scholar transport. People who had already paid him before the incident had to be reimbursed.
He spent a week in hospital, and will not be able to walk for six months.
Police spokesman Captain Frederick van Wyk said a case was opened.
“This office can confirm that an attempted murder case was opened at Lingelethu-West SAPS for investigation,” he said.
He said a case docket of reckless and negligent driving was also opened by the traffic cop, and both were under investigation.
Traffic service spokesman Maxine Bezuidenhout said they were aware of the incident.
“It is being investigated by the police,” she said.
