'I wish they'd rather killed me'
2008-05-12 08:14
Naranda Nell and Arisja Jacobs
Secunda - A young man from Secunda was shot dead in Evander on Saturday night and his friend was injured when three men hijacked them.
Clayton Coetzee, 24, initially thought the men in the back of the car wanted a lift to Secunda, but they turned out to be armed robbers who had held up his friend, Alex de Waal, 21, at about 01:00 on Saturday night.
Provincial police spokesperson superintendent Klaas Maloeka said the two men were going back to Secunda after a night out at Fire and Ice in Evander.
"To be honest, I had had too much to drink and Alex was already waiting for me in the car when I came from the club. We drove to the nearby filling station where I bought a pie. I only saw the men in the back when Alex told me they wanted to get a lift to Secunda," said Coetzee on Sunday.
Ran into the road
"The more I think about it, the more I understand Alex's strange behaviour. I think the men were already holding him up and that he couldn't tell me what was going on. Alex wouldn't just pick up strangers like that".
Coetzee didn't pay much attention to the men but smelled dagga at a stage. "I did sort of wonder what they were doing."
According to Coetzee, Alex drove differently that night. "He drove unusually slowly, especially when we turned left for Secunda".
"The next moment I heard a loud bang, Alex jumped out of the car and shouted that I should do the same. The seatbelt pinned me down and one of the men pulled me back by the throat. I tried to fight back when I heard another bang".
Coetzee felt his upper body going numb. He is unsure how he managed to get out of the car.
"I think I jumped in front of an oncoming car in the road and begged for help. I didn't even realise I had been shot. Before I collapsed, I saw how the men drove across the middle of the road and into the veld. I didn't see Alex".
De Waal died on the scene. The suspects did not get far in the blue Ford Escort and fled by foot. They did not steal anything.
"I wish it had been me instead of Alex. He was my friend and colleague and we did many things together", said Coetzee.
Coetzee was admitted to the Evander hospital and was later transferred to the Medi-Clinic in Trichardt. He was released the same day.
A case of armed robbery, attempted murder and murder has been opened.