Union boss bumps celeb’s vehicle and drives off
Ephraim Molingoana, the owner of Ephymol, a menswear fashion label, is spitting fire. This is after National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) deputy general secretary William Mabapa hit his Audi and sped off.
The car was parked in Johannesburg’s CBD outside Molingoana’s studios in Marshalltown when the incident happened.
Sunday World has seen footage of the incident, which shows a driver in a brown Ford Ranger double-cab bakkie hitting Molingoana’s car before driving off.
An irate Molingoana said what annoyed him most was that the incident had inconvenienced him tremendously. “I was supposed to drive to the Vaal and deliver a client’s wedding dress, but I couldn’t because someone bumped my car and had no courtesy to leave behind his contacts. But thanks to the cameras, I managed to trace him,” said Molingoana.
To his dismay, Molingoana said he was confronted with arrogance when he finally managed to speak to Mabapa about the incident.
“He just told me that he was rushing to a government meeting and he had no time to stop and write down his details,” he said.
Molingoana, who is working on his upcoming fashion show, said his business was now slacking because he was trying to sort out his car.
“I am a creative and due to COVID-19, I had to cut down on things including insurance and now this made things worse because the guy who bumped me does not care whether my car will be fixed or not,” Molingoana said.
The fashion designer said the car’s bumper was heavily affected and it would cost between R8 000 and R11 000 to fix. Molingoana also said he had opened a case at the Johannesburg central police station and would make sure Mabapa fixes his damaged car.
“I will not let this slide. He even had the audacity to tell me that he was rushing to his meeting even though he is the one who is on the wrong side of the law.” NUM media officer Luphert Chilwane said Mabapa accepted the responsibility of having bumped into someone who recklessly parked on the street.
“The guy was advised to get a quote from panel beaters but it seems the reckless guy’s intention is to solicit money instead of fixing the car,” said Chilwane.
