A pregnant mom is lucky to be alive after she was shot in the neck while travelling in a taxi to work.
Laylaa Erasmus, 34, from Happy Valley says she could not believe her eyes when she saw blood streaming from her neck after a lone gunman opened fire on the taxi she was in.
And while in hospital, she received news that she is pregnant with her second child.
“The incident happened on Wednesday, 14 July, on the N2 highway just after 7am,” she explains.
“The violence started the day before and there weren’t any taxis.
“The next day I went again to the taxi rank just to see because I needed to be at work in town and got a taxi.
“We drove down the R300 and then went onto the N2 where all the trouble started.”
She says while sitting in traffic, a man wearing a black top and a balaclava suddenly appeared in front of the taxi, demanding the driver to stop.
“He didn’t want to stop but the guy was very adamant and the driver nudged forward and he got out of the way.
“As we drove on, I just heard the skote and the driver was shot in the back.
“He didn’t want to stop because he knew the guy would kill us and that is when I felt something warm and saw I was shot.”
The traumatised woman says the taxi eventually came to a stop where traffic officers assisted them.
“They called the ambulance and the Law Enforcement also came to help me.
“I was taken to Groote Schuur where the doctors told me I was lucky because there was no damage to my organs and that the bullets went straight through my neck, shoulder and arm.”
She says while recovering in hospital, doctors informed her that she was nine weeks pregnant: “I said ’no doctor, it can’t be.’
“When I had my son four years ago I could not drink coffee while pregnant.
“It would make me very naar so I would know if I am pregnant but then they showed me a scan and there was the baby.”
The mom is appealing to Cata and Codeta to put an end to their deadly feud.
“If I think about how they could have killed me and left my child without a mother, I just start crying.
“I am so scared to take a taxi again and the commuters are the ones that suffer.
“What if they had killed my unborn child? They must stop this fighting.”