Municipal spokesperson’s home targeted in suspected ‘racial attack’
The windows of his home where shot at with what he believes to be pellet guns and later thrown with eggs, causing a mess and extensive damage visible from afar.
Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) spokesperson and former uMkhonto we Sizwe veteran Phillip Montshiwa’s home in Culemborg Park has come under attack on two separate occasions. He now fears for his life.
This comes after the windows of his home where shot at with what he believes to be pellet guns and later thrown with eggs, causing a mess and extensive damage visible from afar. The attacks happened on October 6 and October 13 respectively in what Montshiwa suspects to be racially motivated attacks.
Speaking to the Herald in an interview, Montshiwa said, he pressed the panic button at the first sign of trouble.
“My family and I were sleeping when the first incident occurred. I heard the sound of what seemed like a pellet hitting my window. I went out to check, only to find that my window has been damaged and smashed with eggs,” said Montshiwa.
He added although the suspects were wearing balaclavas when he spotted them, he was able to tell the suspect’s race by looking at their hands. He added that the perpetrators returned again a few days later and threw eggs at his window again.
“I fear for my life as I do not know when they will come back. I also fear that one day I will try to protect myself and I might land myself in trouble with the law,” Montshiwa said.
Meanwhile, the incident was responded to by security company Mapogo A Mathamaga. Their Operations manager Ben Willemse confirmed they recorded an incident of damage to property on October 6.
“We can confirm that we received an alarm activation on the day and we did attend to it. The incident occurred just after 22:00 and upon our arrival, we found that the perpetrators threw stones and eggs at the owners hours and fled the scene. As I understand, this is not the first incident,” Willemse said.
