DA MP attack: ‘My feeling is it was just opportunistic’ – Nicholas Gotsell

702 and CapeTalk’s Mandy Wiener speaks with Nicholas Gotsell, a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Listen below:

Parliament's police committee chairperson Ian Cameron, National Council of Provinces (NCOP) member Nicholas Gotsell and DA MP Lisa Schickerling were conducting a police oversight visit in Philippi when their vehicle was attacked.

Gotsell says they were driving just after 1.30 pm when a friendly man warned them to be careful.

As they pulled away, Shickerling said something did not feel right.

Moments later, a brick flew through Cameron’s window, and the group quickly realised they were under attack.

“I saw this young guy with total aggression in his face, and at that moment I realised they were not retreating, and we were under attack.”

- Nicholas Gotsell, MP - DA

Both Cameron and Gotsell sustained injuries to their faces.

“They hit an artery on my head, and there was literally a projectile stream of blood.”

- Nicholas Gotsell, MP - DA

They managed to escape, driving their car to a nearby petrol station, after Cameron fired off a shot.

Gotsell says he believes things could have been much worse if Cameron had not done this to defend them.

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He adds that he does not believe that this was a targeted, politically motivated attack.

“You know I do not want to speculate; my personal feeling is that it was an opportunistic attack.”

- Nicholas Gotsell, MP - DA

An 18-year-old and a 16-year-old have been arrested in connection with the attack.

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