Johannesburg - Fasieg Dollie got up to let a car through the security boom on Thursday, as he had done so many times before, but he wasn’t prepared for what he would see.
A woman in the passenger seat had blood pouring from her neck with her head slumped to the side, while the driver was panicked. “She (the driver) started screaming, ‘help me, help me’,” Dollie said.
The car had, just seconds before, been hit by stray bullets in a shootout, allegedly between warring minibus taxi groups, at the intersection of Pretoria Main Road and Le Roux Avenue in Midrand.
The women were on their way to work when they were caught in the crossfire, according to police spokeswoman Captain Augustinah Selepe.
The driver, who was injured on her right arm, then turned right down Le Roux Avenue towards the Nizamiye Masjid, a Turkish mosque, where Dollie was stationed.
Dollie said he went to help the women and immediately called the police and the mosque’s private security company.
“I was shocked, I didn’t have fear, but the feeling of losing somebody went through me.”
He said the driver was inconsolable and the passenger was declared dead on the scene by paramedics.
Another security guard, Sydney Mhluzi, was on the other side of the mosque when he heard bullets hitting the ground.
He thought it was a hijacking, so he ran in the direction the bullets were coming from, and went to assist the women. “When I saw the blood, it started to get to me.”
Selepe said initial indications suggested the warring groups were taxi owners, but they were in private vehicles. “They started shooting at each other and drove off,” she said.
Dollie, Mhluzi and other witnesses said they had seen the two groups arguing the day before the shootout, but both sides had left without any physical altercation.
Gauteng police have arrested three men the shooting allegedly by taxi bosses in Midrand.
“They are aged between 50 and 65, and will appear in the Alexandra Magistrate's Court on Monday,” said Captain Augustinah Selepe.
“They will face charges of murder and attempted murder. At this stage we can't confirm if they are taxi owners.”
Several people took to Twitter to air their disbelief about the incident.
“Vorna Valley Midrand dangerous times. Taxi violence in a residential area,” tweeted @lefasmaine.
“Taxi moer mekaar R101/ Allandale Rd. Cowboys in Africa. U turns galore,” said user @msnagdee.
“To think I’ve been driving past by this area for past 2weeks!!! Motorist shot dead by stray bullet in taxi fight,” tweeted. @PHAYINDANA.
The Star