Cape airport mayhem after shooting

Two men, who were at Cape Town International Airport when an alleged underworld kingpin came under fire on Wednesday, described the "pandemonium" that followed.

About 5.15am gunmen opened fire on Jerome "Donkey" Booysen, the alleged leader of the Sexy Boys. It was the third attempt on his life this year. He was hit four times.

A bystander, who was struck by a stray bullet, was taken to hospital.

Commuter Richard Hazelden said he and his colleague had just arrived at the airport when the shots were fired.

"Instantly people in the queue dropped to the ground. Others just bombarded the metal detector. It was like super pandemonium. I thought this was a shoot-out. I looked up from the ground and saw this guy and his daughter holding each other on the floor, and there were just tears. I crawled to a pillar because I thought, if this is a mass shooting, they are going to shoot at the mass of the bodies on the ground. It all happened so quickly. We were all looking around and there was no security."

His colleague, who did not want to be named, said he ran through the metal detector: "I thought I was going to die. I was hundred percent certain I was going to die."

Strangely, said Hazelden, a while after the shots were fired, people got up and continued as if "nothing had ever happened". He said there was no announcement and he found out what had happened only when he arrived in Johannesburg.

Comedian Siv Ngesi was also at the airport: "No one seemed scared. We didn't know what was happening. Then I heard what had happened. It is my birthday today. It started with a bang. Now I am in Johannesburg for a shoot."

The MEC for community safety in the Western Cape, Dan Plato, wants to know why Booysen, the alleged leader of the Sexy Boys, was the target of another murder attempt.

Last month Booysen's vehicle was peppered with bullets near his Bellville home. In May he was shot twice in the neck.

An associate, who did not want to be named, said he is "OK" but is still at the hospital. "This is a serious one," he said. Another acquaintance said Booysen had undergone surgery at a Cape Town hospital.

Police said no arrests have been made.