Cape Town - Two bullets hit a car belonging to ANC MPL Dorothea Gopie as she was about to leave her home in Elsies River on Thursday.
Gopie was not in the car at the time and no one was hurt.
She was sworn in as a member of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature for a second term on Wednesday.
Gopie said she was drinking a glass of water while her son, Aluta, pulled her black Toyota Verso out of her driveway and parked on the side of Hermes Street. “He called me to say the car was ready and the next thing we heard were just shots fired,” she said.
“We all ducked for cover.”
Living in Elsies River was like living in a “war zone”.
“These gangsters are shooting day in, day out. Last night, there was even a shooting in the street,” she said.
She believes the shooting was not politically motivated but that she and her family were caught up in crossfire between two warring gangster groups.
She experienced a similar incident when shots were fired in the street three months ago.
Gopie said she had been living in the area for 12 years but was looking for a house in a safer area.
She had joined the Elsies River Prayer Initiative to talk to parents whose children were involved with gangsters.
“The provincial government must approach parents directly to get rid of gangsterism. This is why I worked through churches to reach these parents.”
In March, Community Safety MEC Dan Plato said Gopie’s son was one of the biggest gang members in Belhar.
“What kind of parent would stay with a son that sells drugs to small children? All of that are lies,” she said.
Police spokesman Frederick van Wyk confirmed the shooting incident.
“No arrests have been made and no suspects identified,” he said, adding a dog injured in the incident had been taken to the SPCA.
Cases of malicious damage to property and the discharge of a firearm in a municipal area have been opened..
Cape Times