Cape Town - Andre Naudé, the former boss of bouncer company Specialised Protection Services (SPS), was shot and injured in a dramatic shoot-out on Saturday night when a bar fight spilled out into the streets of Bellville.
Police said 50 shots were fired in the parking lot near Eastwoods nightclub. Naudé and the shooter who hit him were still in hospital on Sunday night recovering from wounds to their legs.
The clash began at the popular nightclub in Willie van Schoor Drive. Owner Alex Lebi said two men began arguing over a woman who had been flirting with them. “It got heated and one of them threw a punch.”
The bar’s bouncers jumped in to separate the pair and move them outside. Lebi said Naudé also got involved.
They continued their argument in the parking lot, their shouting still audible inside the bar. However, staff said the man who had thrown the punch went to his car and it seemed as if he was leaving.
But he quickly returned with a handgun and opened fire near to where Naudé was standing. As the shooter ran to flee in his vehicle, a white BMW of bouncers “unaffiliated with the bar” pulled out guns and began shooting at him, said Lebi.
In a video captured by one of the bar’s patrons - which was circulated on YouTube on Sunday - one of the shooters stands right next to the car with his gun pointed at the window while pulling the trigger.
Several shots are fired, the retorts punctuating the excited screams of patrons watching from a balcony.
According to police, the driver drove about 500m before stopping his car at traffic lights where he was later picked up by an ambulance. He had been hit in both legs and witnesses said he was bleeding profusely, with blood dripping all over the front seat of his luxury car.
Naudé was shot twice in the same leg and was admitted to a nearby hospital.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Andre Traut could not release the identities of those shot in the gunfight, merely saying they were “both aged in their forties”. But both the owner and local police confirmed that Naudé had been hit.
He was reportedly in a stable condition on Sunday night.
Traut said they were investigating a case of attempted murder.
Naudé is no stranger to controversy. As the former head of SPS, an amalgamation of two rival companies, one which was previously run by slain underworld kingpin Cyril Beeka, was launched in 2011, but was effectively shut down in February when it emerged it was not officially registered.
In 2012, Naudé and co-owner Mark Lifman appeared in court facing 300 charges linked to their illegal bouncer company.
Weekend Argus investigations revealed they were running it as a classic protection racket, which involved attacking people who refused to hire it as their security company.
Cape Argus