GunFacts South Africa - Getting Real about Guns!

By Lebogang Seale

John Theletsane doesn't regard himself as a hero - he's just a man who got angry about crime. Angry enough to chase a gun-toting man and arrest him, even though unarmed himself.

But even after putting his own life on the line to apprehend the man he saw shoot another, he didn't get so much as a word of thanks from the police officers who turned up and took the suspect away.

Asked if he felt like a hero, Theletsane said: "Eish! Not really. I knew I was putting my life in danger, especially as I was not armed.

'I could have killed someone with my bare hands'

"But I couldn't stand watching while this criminal, who had just shot the poor man, escaped. I don't know how, but I just found myself chasing after him.

"I believe I'm lucky to be alive, but at that time, I didn't think about it."

Theletsane was about to cross busy Main Reef Road in Fordsburg, Johannesburg, on Sunday to buy food when he was shaken by the sound of gunfire.

He saw a man collapse in front of him, next to a steel fence. He dashed inside Dragon City shopping centre - where he is part of the management team - to call for back-up.

Then, without waiting, he started chasing after three men who allegedly shot the man.

'People always say poverty is the cause of crime'

Pausing to wipe sweat from his forehead, the 29-year-old Theletsane continued: "I saw that one of them was armed, but the fear in me just went away.

"Two of them ran in the same direction and another took a separate route. I followed the two, and within seconds I was catching up with them. They were less than 20 metres away."

Security guard Chris Kunene also joined in the hot pursuit, although he was some distance behind Theletsane.

"Suddenly, the man with the gun took his jacket off before he dropped his gun. That was when I caught him."

Theletsane and Kunene found the dead victim's wallet, cellphone and watch in the suspect's possession.

At that point they saw a Johannesburg metro police vehicle driving towards them.

"We waved at them to stop, and that is when they arrested the man. We wanted to beat him, but the police refused."

He added: "If it wasn't for that, I don't know. I could have killed someone with my bare hands."

But it still rankles that the police didn't acknowledge what he and Kunene had done.

"They just locked the man inside their vehicle and drove off to where the shot man was. Nothing," he said.

Although the other thugs escaped, Theletsane was pleased the main target was caught.

"People always say poverty is the cause of crime, but you don't just kill an innocent person unprovoked," he said.

Later, the suspect sat in the police van parked next to the body of the dead man, which was covered with a blanket. He covered his face as a horde of people jostled to peep into the van. His accomplices were still at large, but police believe it is only a matter of time before they swoop on them.

Joburg metro police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said police were investigating charges of armed robbery, murder and possession of illegal firearms.

A member of the Dragon City shopping centre management, Angelique Schultz, said although there were sporadic acts of petty crime at the centre, it was the first time in three years that they experienced such a serious crime.

The dead man was a Chinese national living in South Africa and police were on Sunday trying to track his next of kin.

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