He is in hospital after being shot three times in the chest

A QUEENSTOWN man was shot three times in the chest allegedly over a political argument he had with his neighbour on Saturday evening.

The alleged argument, over ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, broke out shortly after 7pm between Siyabonga Ndabeni and his white neighbour in a Queenstown suburb.

Ndabeni was rushed to Queenstown Private Hospital and later transferred to Life St Dominic's Hospital in East London on Sunday. He has since been moved from the ICU.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Gcinikaya Taleni said he would only know the "full details" of the case today.

A friend of Ndabeni's who claims to have witnessed it all, Siyabulela Dumalisile, alleged the neighbour hurled "abusive and racial" comments at them on Saturday evening.

Dumalisile said before the shooting, Ndabeni and himself were at a traditional ceremony in Westborne. They drove to Ndabeni's house to pick up jackets.

"Siyabonga went inside and I was walking around the garden."

Dumalisile alleged the man, living in the adjacent property, kept blinding him with a "big" flashlight.

"I tried to evade the light and then heard the man saying 'where is your president?' I did not respond but he kept asking louder and louder 'where is your president Julius Malema?'

"Siyabonga came out of the house and at first both of us did not take the man seriously and even apologised to him."

He said Ndabeni and the man started arguing about Malema. "He shouted at us saying that we think we can do whatever we like in this country because of Malema, and said he'd shoot us right there and then because we were kaffirs," said Dumalisile.

According to Dumalisile, the man then allegedly pulled a gun and shot his friend in the chest three times.

The neighbour was arrested and is due to appear in the Queenstown magistrate's court soon.