Durban - A Chatsworth councillor on Friday night called on residents to practise tolerance and patience on the road.
Krishna “Rory” Pillay, a DA proportional representation councillor, was speaking to The Independent on Saturday after this week’s road-rage incident, which saw a motorist hand himself over to police after a fatal shooting.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
The motorist allegedly shot six times at another motorist after an argument at Chatsworth’s busy RK Khan Circle, near the Chatsworth Stadium.
The victim was apparently not a local, Pillay said. He had been in an NT-registered maroon Golf, indicating that he would have come from the Tongaat or Stanger area.
Pillay said he could only think that intolerance had led to this regrettable tragedy.
“One only understands this sort of thing after the facts,” said Pillay.
Community Policing Forum chairman Suren Ganapathie advised people prone to potential aggression or frustration to “stay off the road”.
He said in such a state of mind people would be less likely to focus on driving.
Ganapathie also cautioned people against carrying firearms while driving.
“Many people say they want to be armed against hijackers, but they won’t have time to use them. They are attacked so suddenly.”
Both Pillay and Ganapathie said incidents of road rage had not been common in Chatsworth.
However, there was one reported in 2004, when a driver shot a policeman dead and one in 2001. Like this week’s shooting, the 2001 incident saw the alleged perpetrator hand himself over to police. In this case an armed pedestrian had become involved in an argument with a motorist and shot him dead.
The Independent on Saturday