/ 5 August 1994

Gunmen Open Fire On Volkskool

POLICE have arrested two men and seized an AK47 after gunmen fired on a minibus ferrying children to a Heidelberg volkskool early yester-day morning.

A bus from the same school came under a similar attack earlier this year.

A search was launched after the minibus, which was picking up schoolchildren at a Rooikraal smallholding near Heidelberg, came under fire from at least four AK47- wielding men at 7.15am.

East Rand police said one of the passengers, Dolf Botha, was slightly injured by flying shards of glass while 13- year-old Marius Botha was wounded by flying shrapnel in the hand.

At the gate of the smallholding, a man opened fire, shattering the left front window of the vehicle.

Police said Susie Pretorius (41), the minibus driver, managed to drive away.

Within minutes of the shooting, police, backed up by a police helicopter, rushed to the scene and started combing the veld.

East Rand police spokesman Lieutenant Deon Peens said the motive for the attack was unknown. — Sapa