‘I was very disturbed’: Mogotsi rejects claims Vosloorus attack was fabricated

North West businessman Brown Mogotsi told the Madlanga Commission that he was left “very much disturbed” after an alleged attempt on his life in Vosloorus earlier this month, saying rumours that the incident was staged troubled him before.

Mogotsi said he was followed before the shooting and escaped unharmed, although his vehicle was struck.

“After that incident I was very much disturbed when my life was attempted on in Vosloorus, before I could even give a statement, because people thought I'm a Superman… I'm trying to lie that I was moving like this inside… whereas, by luck, I don't know what happened,” he said.

Police opened a case of attempted murder after his car was allegedly shot at several times.

Mogotsi said the attackers fired a shot after following him “for so long”, and he managed to get away when the vehicle behind him “passed to go and make a U-turn”. He said he was unsettled when suggestions emerged that the incident may have been staged.

“That’s what made me very worried. It was presented as if, after that incident, I will say I don't want to come here. I wanted to come here,” he said.

Mogotsi emphasised that he was appearing at the commission “at [his] own cost” and with his own security.

The commission also heard Mogotsi defend his claim that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini were allegedly recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency. Mogotsi said he had obtained the information from a source.

Chief Evidence Leader Adv Matthew Chaskalson challenged the accuracy of these allegations, saying they appeared “completely fanciful”.

Chaskalson said Mogotsi’s claims about Israeli-linked interests controlling the “off-take portion” of the Richards Bay coal export route were incorrect, noting that the Richards Bay Coal Terminal is owned by a consortium of multiple mining companies, each controlling its own quota.

“It’s not possible to own the off-take portion of the Richards Bay coal terminal,” Chaskalson said.

He also pointed out that “there’s never been any suggestion from government that the Richards Bay coal terminal is going to be shut down” and that the state had instead invested in improving the rail link to the port.

Chaskalson told Mogotsi that if he and his handler had genuinely investigated the allegations, they would have discovered the correct information quickly.

“I want to put to you that… it would take you less than five minutes to realise it was absurd,” he said.

Mogotsi maintained that investigations “do not work that way”.