Johannesburg - An explosive was detonated outside Czech businessman Radovan Krejcir's Bedfordview office in Johannesburg on Wednesday, apparently in a bid to kill him, police said.
“It is alleged that he (Krejcir) arrived at the premises and parked his vehicle,” said Lt-Col Lungelo Dlamini.
“As he was leaving the parking spot, an explosive device was detonated from the back of a vehicle, a VW Polo, parked opposite his vehicle.”
Krejcir escaped unharmed. The blast, in the parking lot of the Money Point gold and diamond exchange's head office, on the corner of Nicol and Bradford Roads, Bedfordview, left several holes in Krejcir's car. The VW Polo was stolen in Brixton, Johannesburg, in April.
“It was apparently parked on the premises yesterday (Tuesday) by an unknown person.”
Krejcir said he heard noises, like bullets being fired, from a car he parked next to.
“I managed to get away and saved my life... someone out there tried to kill me,” Krejcir told Sapa.
Krejcir, a convicted criminal, is fighting attempts by the National Prosecuting Authority to extradite him back to his home country, the Czech Republic.
His lawyer wanted his extradition inquiry to be put on hold until his appeal to the Refugees Appeal Board was finalised.
The board refused to grant Krejcir refugee status last year. He is appealing the decision. He arrived in South Africa in 2007.
In his home country he faces an 11-year prison sentence after he was convicted of money laundering in absentia last year.
It emerged in one of his court appearances that he used a forged passport from the Seychelles to enter South Africa.
According to local law enforcement authorities, Krejcir also had outstanding warrants of arrest against him in the Czech Republic. - Sapa