Customer fires shot in local supermarket

Customers at Shoprite in Makhado had to scatter in all directions on Saturday afternoon when a 30-year-old man whipped out his 9mm pistol and fired a shot.

With the recent spate of heinous murders, burglaries and armed robbery cases in the town, everyone in the area, including the adjacent taxi rank, expressed statements of fear and shock. They feared for their lives. Word soon spread that a botched armed robbery had taken place in Shoprite. It later appeared that it was not a robbery case as people believed, but rather the reckless firing of a weapon in a public space.

According to the spokesperson for the Makhado police, Const Tshifhiwa Radzilane, it is alleged that two brothers were busy shopping when an unknown male, approaching them from behind, bumped into one of the brothers with his trolley. “An argument ensued and the suspect allegedly took out his firearm and fired a shot into the floor, aiming towards the brothers,” Radzilane said.

A terrified customer, who declined to be named, said the moment she heard the strident sound she knew it was a gunshot. “It filled the whole supermarket,” she said. “I looked back and saw an angry man holding a short gun. Yooo, I couldn't wait for death! I dropped my basket and rushed out of the supermarket.”

She added that there was total confusion and the security officers at the entrance couldn't stop the running customers.

Radzilane confirmed that the police managed to arrest the suspect, Xabenduni Vuyani, and charged him with attempted murder. He appeared in the Louis Trichardt Magistrate's Court on Monday. He is out on R500 bail.

News - Date: 31 October 2014

Tshifhiwa Mukwevho

Tshifhiwa Given Mukwevho was born in 1984 in Madombidzha village, not far from Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo Province. After submitting articles for roughly a year for Limpopo Mirror's youth supplement, Makoya, he started writing for the main newspaper. He is a prolific writer who published his first book, titled A Traumatic Revenge in 2011. It focusses on life on the street and how to survive amidst poverty. His second book titled The Violent Gestures of Life was published in 2014.

Email: [email protected]