DA MPs received warning before violent smash-and-grab in Cape Town

THREE DA Members of Parliament, who were injured in a brutal smash-and-grab attack in Philippi on Tuesday, received a warning about potential danger just moments before the assault.

- YASMINE JACOBS

The MPs, Nicholas Gotsell, Ian Cameron (chair of Parliament’s police portfolio committee), and Lisa-Maré Schickerling, had just departed the SAPS training college when their vehicle was surrounded by men armed with bricks near the intersection of New Eisleben and Govan Mbeki Roads.

DA MP Nicholas Gotsell told eNCA that a local man approached their vehicle at the first intersection and warned Cameron to “be careful”.

Cameron noted this warning but saw Schickerling was uneasy after the encounter.

Moments after crossing that same intersection, a brick was hurled through their vehicle window.

Gotsell described blacking out when a brick struck his head and suffering significant bleeding and lacerations. He was hospitalised following the attack.