Mpumelelo Mokase is still in disbelief that he miraculously survived a shooting in which a bullet went through his neck and he lived to tell the tale - on his feet.

Mokase, 20, of Etwatwa on the East Rand was shot by a member of a Cartrack recovery crew on February 9 while washing his uncle's car, which had been reported stolen the previous night.

The crew found the car, a Toyota Avanza, being washed in the yard registered on their records but said the members thought it was being stripped.

Cartrack said the car seats were folded, doors open and some parts were removed from the vehicle.

"I was sweeping the floor of the car, so I had to fold its seats. I did not see the two men when they entered the yard. One of the guards kicked me on my side and asked what I was doing in the car," Mokase recalled.

"He then grabbed the door and pressed it against me. He already had his gun pulled out. He then grabbed me and said I was stripping the car. I tried to tell him that it's my uncle's car.

"I raised my hand and told him I had done nothing wrong," Mokase recalled.

He said the guard placed the firearm in his neck.

"He fired one shot. I was disorientated. I managed to escape and ran around the house. I was bleeding."

Mokase was shot right below the chin and the bullet went through his neck.

The police were called to the scene and an ambulance later arrived and took Mokase to hospital where he spent two days at the intensive care unit of the Far East Rand Hospital. He was discharged on Thursday.

"While in the ambulance, I really thought I was going to die. I was bleeding profusely.

"I do not know how I am still alive. It is a miracle. Even the doctors were surprised how the bullet went through my neck and still did not kill me. I really want the man who shot me to be arrested. He wanted me dead," he said.

Mokase said he cannot feel his right ear but he can hear.

The drama began when his uncle Rulani Mokase did not return home on February 8. His wife tried calling him but his phone was off.

The wife then called Cartrack the next day and reported the vehicle missing. But when Rulani returned home unharmed, his wife forgot to call and cancel the case.

The guard who fired the shot has since been suspended and police are investigating a case of attempted murder.

Cartrack declined to comment yesterday, saying they had already issued a statement on the incident.