Pretoria - A crowd of curious Mamelodi residents, east of Pretoria, who had converged along the busy Solomon Mahlangu Drive at an accident scene sprinted for cover as live bullets rang out following a confrontation between taxi drivers and some community members.
A scholar transport vehicle, delivering Tshwane District Hospital spokesperson Zandile Mthimunye's children home from school had earlier been hit by a Toyota Quantum minibus along the busy Solomon Mahlangu Drive.
Mthimunye, had rushed to the scene of the accident, but soon realised she was bleeding after a bullet bounced off the metal underwire in her bra.
Some angry community members, the scholar transport driver and the taxi driver were engaged in a heated argument following the accident. Police were not on the scene.
Moments later, another taxi driver stopped by, produced a handgun and took his colleague's side in the heated exchange.
Scuffles ensued and during the melee, shots rang out. As the dust settled, the intervening taxi driver was running swiftly facing incoming traffic, as he fled from the fight. He had been disarmed of his pistol.
The mother of the two minor children, who is also a spokesperson for the Tshwane District Hospital, said she was deeply disturbed by how events unfolded.
Mthimunye said she had to endure the pain, as she had the ordeal of her children's accident to deal with.
"My concern is my children - and here are crowds of men fighting. During the brawls and the gun firing, I felt that I had been hit by something in my ribs. When I saw that I'm actually bleeding, I knew that one of the bullets had hit me," she said.
Tshwane Metro Police Department spokesperson Isaac Mahamba said the matter was being investigated.