‘The bullets missed me by inches’: Contralesa president survives shooting at home

Share current article via EmailShare current article via FacebookShare current article via TwitterShare current article via LinkedInGugulethu MashininiOpens in new windowOpens in new windowEnter fullscreen mode displaying this image.ExpandContralesa president chief Mathupa Lameck Mokoena survived a shooting at his Mpumalanga residence on Thursday night, with bullets narrowly missing him as he watched TV in his bedroom. File picture: Department of co-operative governance and traditional leaders Story audio is generated using AI

The president of the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa), chief Mathupa Lameck Mokoena, says bullets fired through the windows of his home narrowly missed him during a shooting in Mpumalanga.

Mokoena, who is also the chairperson of the Mpumalanga House of Traditional Leaders, said he was watching TV in his bedroom when the shooting began at about 10.35pm on Thursday night.

“I’m just fortunate that I survived, that they missed me. I would be one of the statistics now. I don’t know how I survived, but thank God I’m still here talking to you,” he told TimesLIVE.

The incident happened at his home in the Malengeza section, Mkhuhlu. Mokoena said he had returned home at about 8pm after attending an event hosted by the education MEC.

He was sitting on his sofa in the main bedroom watching TV when he heard what he initially thought was a light bulb bursting or an electrical fault.

“But immediately after that, a second shot was fired. I only then noticed that these were gunshots. I jumped out of my chair and lay on the floor. Then the third one came as well.”

He crawled towards the bathroom as more shots were fired. Mokoena said the bullets came through the window, narrowly missing him as he sat nearby.

“I noticed that those bullets came through the window and through the aluminium [frame] until they went through. They missed me by a few inches because where the shots hit, I was sitting not far from there, in the line of where the bullets were coming from.”

He called the police and his family after the shooting. Police later found cartridges and bullet fragments at the scene.

According to a police report, the shooting was reported at the Calcutta police station under a case of attempted murder and malicious damage to property. No physical injuries were reported, though several windows were damaged.

Mokoena said he had not received direct threats before the incident, though police had previously warned him that people were talking about him.

“I have never received any calls threatening me or anything like that. But all I know is that the police came to me and said, ‘Kgoshi, you must try to be safe. There are people who are talking about you’, but they would not tell me exactly what it was about.”

He said he did not know who could be behind the shooting and could not identify anyone he believed wanted to harm him.

“I don’t belong to any scheme where we may have had a deal that went wrong. I don’t belong to that, and I don’t owe anyone. I don’t remember quarrelling with anyone, except through my work as a traditional leader when I preside over cases.”

Mokoena said the shooting had strengthened his call for the government to take the safety of traditional leaders seriously.

According to Mokoena, the incident comes as traditional leaders were calling on the government to arrange protection for kings, queens and traditional leaders around the country.

“But all I can say is that it is clear that the call we made has come to us. I think it is high time the government took what we suggested seriously, because there are many traditional leaders who are killed through the barrel of a gun,” he said.

“Unless the state takes our advice seriously, we are going to be killed just like that.”

Traditional leaders are yet to receive a concrete commitment from the government on how their security concerns would be addressed.

Mokoena said the only response he was aware of came from the deputy minister, who had indicated that the matter was receiving attention.

“Up until now, there is nothing that traditional leaders can point to and say, ‘Yes, we are addressing this security challenge that we are having.’ All I heard was that the matter was receiving attention.”

The security arrangements being discussed appeared to focus on chairpersons and deputy chairpersons of the national and provincial houses of traditional leaders, rather than the wider traditional leadership.

“But about all traditional leaders, there is nothing they can say they have made a commitment about,” he said.

Despite the trauma of the shooting, Mokoena said he was recovering with the support of his family.

“It’s very traumatic, I must say. With the support of the family, I’m getting stronger and stronger,” he said.

Would you like to comment on this article?Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.