Minister of Foreign Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said on Friday she was shocked by reports of the attempted murder of a former South African envoy to the United Nations.
”It is with a real sense of shock and sadness that I hear of the attempted murder of one of the greatest leaders our country and people have to come to know and love, Josiah Jele,” she said in a statement released by her department.
Dlamini-Zuma, who is currently in Ghana with President Thabo Mbeki, wished Jele a speedy recovery.
”We express our conviction that the law-enforcement agencies will leave no stone unturned in tracking down those responsible for such heinous deeds to ensure they face the full might of the law.”
Jele, who is also the chairperson of the Security Officer’s Board, was shot outside his home in Glasgow Road in Lombardy West, south-east of Johannesburg, on Thursday.
Inspector Amanda Roestoff said Jele was reversing out of the driveway in his Toyota Lexus when several shots were fired at him by an unidentified man at about 7.30pm. The attacker then sped off in a white Volkswagen Golf.
The Lexus collided with a neighbour’s wall before it came to a standstill. The injured former envoy got out of his vehicle and walked to his house.
Roestoff said Jele’s wife came to her husband’s rescue and took him to a local hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Police are investigating and no arrests have been made.
Jele is a former member of the national executive committee of the African National Congress and central committee and politburo of the South African Communist Party. — Sapa