POLOKWANE – “Please don’t leave me, Steve,” he begged while he clutched Steve Janse van Rensburg’s hand as he lay bleeding on the cold cement floor of the forecourt at Sasol Bendor in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The 38-year-old petrol attendant had just been shot several times, allegedly by a customer, who later shot himself dead when the police closed in on him.
According to an eye-witness, Nedine Janse van Rensburg, whose husband was the man holding the petrol attendant’s hand, she and her husband had just stopped for petrol on the way to a fishing trip when the incident occurred, at around 05:00.
“We heard what sounded like gunshots. My husband turned the car around and we saw a petrol attendant falling to the ground.
“The shooter left the filling station. My husband is well known at the filling station and rushed over to the man on the ground.
“We called the police and medical services.
“It felt like hours before they arrived, but it was actually only minutes.
“I will never forget the image of the man lying on the ground begging my husband not to leave him,” said Janse van Rensburg.
Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala, confirmed the shooting incident.
He said a 34-year-old man in a Grand Cherokee drove into the filling station early on Saturday morning and asked the petrol attendant to put petrol into his car.
On behind asked how much petrol he should put in, the man reportedly said he did not have money but would come and pay later, adding that he was well known in the area. The petrol attendant refused and the man left.
Phala said at around 05:00 the same man returned to the filling station driving a Toyota Conquest and again demanded petrol from the attendant, for which he would pay later. He was again refused and an argument ensued during which the 38-year-old petrol attendant was shot in the stomach, Phala said.
The victim of the shooting was currently in a critical condition at Mediclinic Limpopo.
“Eyewitnesses gave a description of the shooter and his vehicle and police traced the suspect to a house in Bendor. Police surrounded the house but before they could apprehend the suspect, he shot himself in the head and died on the scene,” Phala said.
A case of attempted murder was being investigated, he confirmed.
Johan Potgieter, owner of the filling station, said he could not comment on the matter. However, he confirmed the shooting. He also stressed that the incident had nothing to do with a robbery but was the senseless shooting of a man who was just performing his duties.
“We are waiting for the Polokwane police to complete their investigation and to look at our CCTV footage. Until all this is done I can only confirm that the petrol attendant is in hospital but doing much better,” he concluded.
