East London - Five armed men shot at Eastern Cape police commissioner Lt-Gen Celiwe Binta's car in a botched hijacking in East London, but she was not hurt, it was reported on Monday.
The gunmen tried to hijack her BMW X3 at an intersection near Lingelitsha township just before midday on Saturday, according to the Daily Dispatch Online.
Binta, her bodyguard and a female passenger were travelling slowly in the car when the robbers surrounded it and pointed guns at them.
“They forced the driver to stop, one then fired a round towards the commissioner’s vehicle. The bullet penetrated the front driver’s window and exited through the front passenger’s window,” Eastern Cape safety and liaison spokesman, Lwandile Sicwetsha told the Daily Dispatch.
The bullet narrowly missed the driver, but his face was cut by broken glass.
“The driver managed to pull off and maintained control of the vehicle and drove to the Berlin police station,” said Sicwetsha.
The robbers went to a nearby house where they held local pastor Reverend Stanley Makinana and his family at gunpoint, and took car keys and cellphones, said Sicwetsha.
He said the men drove off in Makinana’s vehicle and later robbed a local butchery of R6 000. - Sapa