On Thursday afternoon, Coreth Naudé, a senior advocate representing SARS in a high-profile tax inquiry involving the controversial businesswoman Shauwn Mkhize, narrowly escaped an assassination attempt.
Arriving at her Durban hotel near the Gateway shopping centre shortly after 4pm, two gunmen launched a violent attack, shooting her multiple times in the upper body, neck, and face, according to reports from News24.
Reports indicate that Naudé attempted to flee by speeding into a basement parking garage. Photographs of the vehicle show the driver’s side window shattered by gunfire, with Naudé lying on the ground as medics administered first aid.
She was initially treated in the hotel’s basement parking garage before being transported by ambulance to Netcare Umhlanga Hospital in critical condition. A bullet tore through Naudé’s neck and exited through her mouth, while three more shots from a 9mm handgun hit her shoulder and chest. Naudé survived emergency surgery at Netcare Umhlanga Hospital on Thursday night and is in stable condition in the ICU under heavy guard.
Police and private security services are searching for a Toyota Corolla that was using possibly cloned number plates.
On Thursday, Naudé was heavily involved in a tax inquiry investigating the financial dealings of Shauwn Mkhize, her Royal AM Football Club, and associated entities. The inquiry took place at the Cox Yeats Attorneys’ offices in Umhlanga.
In May, SARS secured a provisional preservation order to seize assets tied to the companies and a trust, aiming to recover R37 million in owed taxes. This included a fleet of luxury vehicles, such as a Lamborghini. A standoff occurred between Mkhize’s security and armed guards accompanying the attorneys, leading to the attempt to secure assets in Durban and Sandton being called off to ease tensions.
SARS commissioner Edward Kieswetter condemned Thursday’s attack as an assault on state authority and the rule of law. “SARS condemns in the strongest possible terms the attempted assassination of Advocate Coreth Naude. This shocking act is intended to intimidate officers of court to abandon the vital work they’re performing in furtherance of our country’s legal system. It undermines the authority of the State. Acts such as these and those who perpetrate them must be resisted and defeated by all of us working together for the betterment of our country and ensuring that none is above the law. We will not be intimidated by such acts of crime and cowardice,” Kieswetter added.
Image source: https://witness.co.za/news/2024/07/19/sars-advocate-shot-three-times-in-attempted-hit-in-kzn/
