Beverley de Meyer, Simon’s Town
On Saturday afternoon, July 31, around 5.45pm, I was walking home from the Simon’s Town Golf Club when someone in a passing car shot me with a paintball gun at very close range, less than 2m, from a passing car. I was hit on my arm, chest height. At first I thought someone had thrown a stone at me as it was extremely painful. I then saw the luminous orange of a paintball all over my clothing.
I still have a very sore and very bruised arm and had this hit my face it could have been much worse.
There were a lot of vehicles driving by, on the way back from the Cape Point area and all I recall was that the car was some kind of hatchback and of course the shot came from the passenger’s side of the vehicle. Behind the car was a flatbed bakkie with a canopy.
I immediately called the Simon’s Town SAPS and they said they would send a van to see if they could find the car but nothing happened. My husband and son also went looking, over Black Hill but were unsuccessful.
Now to whoever this stupid, unthinking individual is, this may seem like fun or funny to you. It is not. Paintball is for war games in a proper environment, with protective clothing. It’s certainly not for a casual drive around the peninsula, possibly taking pot shots at animals, objects or people. The cartridge is very dangerous, under high compression, even more so at close range and from a moving vehicle. People have lost eyes because of this.
I know this will be read by either the person who did this or his friends or others who know him. I’m also sure your parents would be really angry too.
I assume this was a car full of young guys who had probably had been drinking or whatever.
This may sound trivial but, in future, use your brains before you decide to have a “laugh” with your equally unthinking friends.