A 63-year-old man is being charged with attempted murder after he was allegedly brutally assaulted by a taxi driver in Merebank.

According to Dhevan Govindasamy, the spokesperson for PT Alarms, the taxi driver allegedly followed the elderly man and assaulted him at a garage where the elderly man, in self-defence, fired his gun.

The elderly man said he was being cut off on the Southern Freeway by the taxi driver for no reason.

“I decided to overtake him but then he started following me all the way to Merebank. So I decided to stop at the garage. That's when he abandoned his vehicle in the middle of the road and ran to attack me.

“He punched me in my face, breaking my glasses and cutting my face. When he punched me a second time, I knew this was dangerous, so I drew my licensed firearm and shot him in the leg."

The elderly man has had his gun licence for the last 33 years.

“Even after I shot him, he still charged at me once more. There was a scuffle for the gun, which he turned on me. The gun went off and I was shot in my hand. The bullet went through my hand and we both collapsed onto the ground. Everything else was a blur, with emergency services attending to me. We were both bleeding profusely.”

He said this was the first time in 40 years, that he could not complete his fasting for Ramadaan.

“I was in hospital for 10 days and only just got out. I’m still in pain. It was a traumatic incident that I will never forget,” said the elderly man.

A case of attempted murder against the elderly man has been opened at Wentworth SAPS.

“It's disturbing that such an incident, which could have been avoided, turned so ugly. When I arrived at the scene, my medics quickly attended to the injured victim and the taxi driver. We had to control the crowd that gathered away from the scene. We had to avoid any racial issues," said Govindasamy.

“One should avoid arguments and racial comments when there are incidents of such nature. Many times we can avoid road rage, if we are patient and cautious,” he said.

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