Herselman alive when found

2006-06-16 23:29

Eduan Roos

Johannesburg - Murdered Cape Town journalist Megan Herselman lived for more than 40 minutes after being shot in her rented car on the side of a Johannesburg highway.

She was shot four times through the window on the passenger's side on Tuesday night.

Herselman is thought to have been shot while trying to call someone on her cellphone to ask directions to the guest house where she would've stayed for the weekend.

Nothing was stolen from the car.

A breakdown operator who saw Herselman's car, which was lying in a ditch next to the Rivonia Road off-ramp, initially thought it had been a "normal accident".

It was about 21:00.

But, the man told Beeld, when he got to the car, he realised that something else was wrong.

Herselman, he said, still had her seatbelt on and was leaning over towards the passenger side.

Although she was unconscious, her heart was still "beating faintly".

The operator informed the emergency services and they arrived at the scene at about 21:30. They were followed by the police.

"She died about ten minutes after the paramedics arrived," the breakdown operator said.

The police came under fire shortly after the attack on Herselman.

Another motorist, Clifford Ranaka, said police hadn't responded to his calls after he'd been attacked by three men about 300m from where the journalist had been murdered.

Police also are investigating claims that another woman was robbed in the area a little earlier - possibly by the same men who killed Herselman and robbed Ranaka.

Police spokesperson Sefako Xaba said the woman had been attacked while on her way to a taxi rank about 200m from where Herselman died.

"Three men, one of whom was armed, stopped her and demanded her cellphone," Xaba said.

"They then fled in the direction of the highway and shortly afterwards the woman heard several shots," Xaba said.

According to Xaba these must have been the shots fired at Ranaka and a friend who had come to his assistance.

"We believe the same people were responsible and that they hid in the area and afterwards tried to rob Herselman," he said.

Johannesburg metro police spokesperson Wayne Minnaar, said as many as 24 motor vehicles patrolled the area in relays, as well as other off-ramps which had been identified as danger spots.

These officers are on the move at all times and, depending on the number of incidents that they have to react to and the time of day, a patrol car should pass any given point every 20 minutes," he said.

- Beeld