‘My son was killed like an animal’ — dad says after gunmen fire over 40 shots

A traumatised brother of one of the four people shot dead while they sat inside a car in Mpumalanga has told how he hid inside the house, listening to their screams as more than 40 bullets peppered their vehicle.

The 18-year-old said when he heard a car stop at their gate in Mkhuhlu, Bushbuckridge, on Sunday evening, he walked to the door to go and welcome his brother, Xolani Mona, 30, only to hear gunshots.

He quickly returned to the house.

“As I touched the door to go out, I heard several gunshots and screams. I went back to my room and looked through the window as a number of people, whom I could not recognise, as it was dark, fired shots.

“I hid inside the house as they killed my brother and his friends until the shots stopped. That’s when I rushed to my grandmother’s house, which is close by, to report [what had happened],” the teenager, who asked to remain anonymous, said

The people who were in the car with his brother were not only his friends but neighbours too, he said.

Mpumalanga police commissioner Lt-Gen Zeph Mkhwanazi said they do not know how many suspects there were as they were using different guns.

“Four people, including a female, were declared dead on the scene while one of the victims is fighting for his life in an intensive care unit,” said Mkhwanazi.

According to the teenager, his brother ran a food business from outside their home. On the day he was killed, he had closed early and left with a friend who worked as a mechanic.

When they returned that evening, there were three other people in the car. Four were killed and one was seriously injured.

“He was a person who was loved and ever smiling. He was trying to make sure that we live a normal life through his business,” said the brother.

Their father, Elmo, said the family was battling to cope following Xolani’s murder.

“My son was killed like an animal.

“These people killed him straight in the car. His two friends who tried to run away were followed and shot while limping to escape.

“These people came to kill, nothing else, because they did not steal anything from the car.

“My younger son, is lucky he did not come outside. I believe they would have killed him too.

The elderly man said they counted more than 40 spent cartridges. “They came here to make sure no one survived.”

Mona said the VW Golf belonged to a police officer attached to the Calcutta police station, who was also Xolani’s friend. Xolani had given it to his mechanic friend to fix, which is why they were in possession of it.

Mpumalanga police spokesperson Col Mavela Masondo confirmed the white VW Golf belonged to a police officer who had sent it for repairs.

Meanwhile, Mpumalanga premier Mandla Ndlovu described Mkhuhlu as a crime hotspot, saying 37 people had been murdered in the area since January.

“We are now saying enough is enough. Today we came with the leadership of the police to put our heads together and find what is really happening here and come up with a breakthrough in arresting the suspects responsible for these atrocities.”

He said he had given Mkhwanazi four days to make a breakthrough in the investigation and expected a progress report by Friday.

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