Durban - Two men were arrested for shooting and hijacking a motorist in Pinetown after they crashed the hijacked bakkie on Tuesday.
The incident unfolded around midday outside the Pinetown post office.
The motorist, 60, had been seated in his bakkie in the parking lot, waiting for his wife and daughter, when two men approached him from either side and demanded he hand over his Hilux Raider bakkie.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said one of the hijackers shot the man in his arm, dragged him out of the bakkie and drove off with his accomplice.
The man alerted his wife, who had been inside the post office, that he had been shot. Bystanders called the police and gave them a description of the vehicle. The victim was rushed to hospital.
Pinetown police spotted the bakkie on St Johns Avenue and gave chase.
The hijackers turned into Shepstone Road and then into Henwood Road.
A bystander, who did not want to be named, said the bakkie was travelling at high speed. He said roadworks were being done on Henwood Road which had left two unsurfaced areas on the road and the bakkie had clipped one of the areas as it was taking the bend.
The driver skidded into the oncoming lane, hit wooden barriers along the verge and overturned. The bakkie came to a rest on the pavement.
Police at the scene said both hijackers opened the doors and climbed out of the bakkie unscathed. They made a dash for it on foot, but were arrested metres from the crash site.
One of them was found in possession of a firearm.
Zwane said the two men, aged 18 and 19, were charged with attempted murder and carjacking. They were expected to appear in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court soon.
“The firearm will be sent for ballistic testing to establish if it was used to shoot the victim,” said Zwane.
South African community crime watch spokesman Steven King commended police for the swift response and arrest.
Daily News