A white couple were gunned down by three robbers in a 'racist attack' at the side of the road after their car ran out of fuel in South Africa.

Johanco Fleischman, 19, and girlfriend Jessica Kuhn, 23, were executed in cold blood as they waited on a motorway bridge for a family friend to bring them a can of diesel to get them going.

Two employees sitting in the back of the car with the couple were brutally beaten by the killers but spared death and have described the horrific double murder to shocked police in detail.

It is understood the attackers walked past the car and murmured a racial insult at Fleischman before opening fire.

Jessica Khun, 23, and Johanco Fleischman, 19, who were shot dead when their car ran out of fuel

The two witnesses told cops the Toyota Hilux had run out of diesel on the N12 West near Benoni some 20 miles east of Johannesburg and butcher Johanco had called a friend for help.

As they waited for rescue they said three men walked past the car and then walked back hissing the word 'umhulungu' at Johanco - a derogatory phrase for a white man.

One of the men then pulled a revolver without warning and fired at least nine bullets, hitting Johanco several times in the body.

As he slumped into the road the gunman leaned into the cab and killed Jessica with a single shot to the head, before they stealing her mobile phone.

Then in an attempt to cover their tracks they set fire to the inside of the Toyota with a lighter.

Jessica was slumped dead in the passenger seat, Johanco on the road, and the two badly beaten workers had fled for their lives.

A passing motorist saw the truck on fire and used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames and then saw the bodies.

He called the emergency services who were quickly at the scene.

The attack happened in broad daylight at 11am and police and medical services were quickly there but the couple were declared dead at the scene.

Gauteng Police Commissioner Elias Mawela has set up a specialist task team to track the three cold blooded killers.

In an attempt to cover their tracks the attackers set fire to the inside of the Toyota with a lighter

Police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said: 'In condemning these cold blooded murders we assure the family that all possible leads are being followed to trace the killers.

'These men must be considered to be armed and dangerous so if seen please contact the police and any information that leads to the arrest of these three killers will be rewarded' he said.

ER24 spokesman Ross Campbell of the Ambulance Service said the 19-year-old male was outside the Toyota Hilux and had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the body and died instantly.

He said the 23-year-old victim died from a single gunshot wound to the head adding: 'Both showed no signs of life and were declared dead at the scene. It was a terrible thing to happen.

'The two workers who were with the couple had fled but returned when we arrived and the South African Police Service are investigating from them exactly what happened' he said.

The head of the Gauteng Province Community Police Board Dr MR Patel said: 'The couple has just driven onto the top of the off ramp at the N12 when their vehicle ran out of fuel.

'The young man called a family friend who is a butcher to ask for a favour to bring them a can of diesel and he sent someone out but when he got there he found them both dead.

'There were people already on the scene and the two workers who were in the back when the attack happened had returned but both been badly beaten and were severely traumatised.

'They said the attackers had used the word "Uhmlungu" which is a phrase of sorts for "white man" to the driver before he started shooting but I don't think that necessarily makes this attack racist.

'I think these were opportunists who saw a car broken down and saw the opportunity to rob them and it seems the driver put up a fight and after that it just all went totally pear shaped.

The attackers were said to have walked past the car and muttered a racial slur at Johanco Fleischman

'I can see markers for 9 bullet casings near the car in photographs but there could well have been many more fired.

'We of the GPCPB condemn this callous murder by three armed criminals and we extend our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of this couple in this senseless criminal incident.

'It is deeply concerning that such a blatant and brazen act of violence against innocents can be conducted in broad daylight by thugs and criminal elements in our community' he said.

After the shooting it emerged Jessica had posted a pic of herself on Facebook set into her own tombstone in January.

On it she predicted her age at death as 91 but she was brutally murdered just 4 months later.

She writes her name as Jess on her own tombstone and in her chilling Facebook post she states that if she dies her destination will be 'Hell' and puts a Final Wish on the marker.

It reads beneath a photo of her on the granite slab:'When I die I want somebody to change my status to 'Chilling with Jesus' and change my occupation to 'Haunting All Of You'.

The photo was posted on her Facebook page in January the month before she met new boyfriend Johanco. It is thought he was a delivery driver at a butchers company she worked for.

The men fired at least nine bullets, hitting Johanco several times in the body, and shot Jessica once in the head