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Hijack 'was really road rage'
18/08/2005 07:09 - (SA)
Matt Saville
Pietermaritzburg - A KwaZulu-Natal businessman, Mohamed Essa, who claimed to have been the target of an attempted hijacking on Monday, has had counter charges of attempted murder laid against him by the accused hijackers, who say it was a case of road rage on Essa's part.
Oribi resident Monde Dlamini, who was initially labelled as one of the would-be hijackers, told The Witness on Wednesday that he and a friend had just taken children to school and were returning from Sobantu just after 08:00.
They were driving along King Edward Avenue, to cross Durban Road when their car collided with Essa's car, a Mercedes CLK convertible. Essa's car was damaged on the front left side.
Dlamini said he was in the wrong, and apologised to Essa.
"He came to our car and asked for our particulars. We told him that we would not be able to pay for the damages. Then he went to his car and got a gun.
"I asked him if I could park on the side of the road. He then cocked the gun and I drove off," said Dlamini, adding that he felt threatened.
"He got very angry and was swearing," said Dlamini.
Dlamini said Essa chased after them in his Mercedes, firing shots in their direction.
Dlamini and his friend ended up in the Dorset Drive cul-de-sac during the chase, got out of their car and jumped a fence to escape Essa who "fired a number of shots".
One of the shots hit Dlamini in the hand.
"They have a lot of guts in making a statement such as the one they're making," said Essa in response. "I can't understand it. They tried to push me off the road," he said.
Dlamini said neither his friend nor he had a gun in the car and strongly contested Essa's claim that they fired on him. "How could we have fired if we didn't have a gun," he said.
Essa said the damage to his car amounted to about R100 000. Inspector Joey Jeevan said police are investigating a charge of attempted murder.
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