Fashion designer Fabrice Moyo, owner and founder of the Franc Elis brand. Picture: Facebook
In an incident that was partly caught on video, Democratic Republic of Congo-born fashion designer Fabrice Moyo, who is known and retails as Franc Elis, was allegedly attacked and even shot at after a fender bender in the wet Johannesburg weather.
A man driving a bakkie allegedly struck Moyo’s Mercedes-Benz’s back bumper in an accident and things then apparently escalated quickly, with the driver emerging and swearing at him, calling him a derogatory, xenophobic word for foreigner, makwerekwere, and evidently punching him, which was caught on the video.
A man who was presumably with the driver seemed to be trying to calm him down and de-escalate the situation, apparently to no avail.
Moyo can be heard protesting and just wanting to sort out the accident. He told The Citizen on Friday evening that the attacker later backed into the front of his car, damaging it.
Fabrice Moyo’s damaged car. Picture: Facebook
The driver later allegedly even fired gunshots at him.
“He called me the k-word. Then I started recording. He called me makwerekwere and drove in front of me and reversed back on me.
“Then he came out of the car and discharged his firearm … I ran for my life today.”
Moyo has opened a case of assault and crimen injuria at the Honeydew police station.
The Citizen is publishing this footage in the interest of ensuring that the arrest does take place and that the man who can be seen in this video is made to explain himself in court.
Moyo showed his menswear collection at the SA Fashion Week this year at Sandton City in October.
On one of the Franc Elis websites, the company explains that it has one retail store in the Lonehill Shopping Centre and another planned for Fourways.
“Opening our doors in 2003, our label is respected for its sophisticated and well-tailored garments, but mostly as a South African shirt authority.”
(Compiled by Charles Cilliers)
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