This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers.
Thulisile Mapongwana
One of the survivors of the 1993 Highgate Massacre, Neville Beling, took the stand on Wednesday to recount the harrowing details that changed his life.
Beling is one of seven survivors of the shooting, which claimed the lives of five other patrons at Highgate Pub and Hotel in East London on May 1, 1993.
Beling said that on the day in question, he had to leave work early to celebrate with his friend, whom he ended up not reaching. Instead, he contacted his cousin, Roland Parker, around 7 pm, asking if he wanted to go out with him. Coincidentally, Beling said, “The day before the incident, I had just signed for my medical aid at work.”
He said they went to at least three different hotels around East London, but they were very quiet. So, they finally decided to go to Highgate for a “vibe”.
“After we arrived, we ordered our drinks, and shortly after, we heard a lot of footsteps and noise outside. I turned and looked at the door and saw a guy running up the stairs with a balaclava and a rifle in his hand.”
He said he then realized that it was not just a ruckus between drunk patrons.
“I heard a lot of metal crackling. He ran into the men’s bar area and stopped for three seconds before he turned the rifle towards us.”
Beling said he turned to his cousin and hit him. “We both fell backwards off the barstools, but by the time we hit the floor, I felt bullets hitting me, and I could not feel my left arm and leg.”
He said from then on, it was continuous firing.
“It felt like forever, but it could have been a minute or two.”
Beling said he then heard a metal object coming towards them. “It ignited and exploded, and then I heard a gas sound going off.”
After that, he said he heard a rolling noise on the floor and then another explosion. “The whole building shook. The lights went out, and I couldn’t hear anything for a while. I started choking.”
After the attack, Beling reached out to Parker, who did not respond. “At the time, I presumed he was shot dead. I knew I had to get help.”
He said he couldn’t get up as his whole left side had gone numb. “I was slipping in my own blood. I leaned on my cousin’s body and reached for the counter. I was too scared to go out the door in case there were gunmen outside waiting for us.”
He said he eventually got to a back exit and saw someone on their haunches, and that’s when he finally gave in to the pain and fell onto his back.
He said it was at that moment that he heard his cousin calling out to him. “Chappie,” and he responded, “I am here.”
“He came running and fell on his knees, asking how I am.”
The ambulance eventually arrived, and he was the first to get to the hospital. The doctors started coming in and told him he had also been shot in the back, that there was a lot of damage, and that he needed to get to the theater.
“I said, ‘Help me, doc, I am dying,’ before I passed out and came around about three days later.”
When he woke up, Beling said he was told by the doctor, “This man is going to be in and out of the hospital for the next 30 years,” and he was right.
“Thirty years later, I was still going for operations.”
“I have had over 50 major operations, three heart failures, there was a time when septicaemia was setting into my body because of bone fragments, my hip and pelvis was shattered, my bowls and bladder were ripped.”
“For many years I was on morphine for pain, to a point I started getting addicted to it. I could never work again after that incident”
“I was robbed of my youth from the age of 20. Psychologically you just wish you were dead.”
