A father of two is among 10 people who were killed in a stampede when hordes of people went on a looting spree at Ndofaya Mall in Meadowlands, Soweto.
At least 70 people have now died in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, the two provinces which have been gripped by sporadic violent protests purportedly over the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma, who is serving a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court.
Gauteng has recorded 19 fatalities since the riots broke out on Saturday, premier David Makhura said yesterday.
Mthokozisi Ndwandwe, 28, who lived in Meadowlands with his girlfriend and nine others died at Ndofaya Mall as people went on the rampage.
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His brother Phumlani Nxumalo told Sowetan yesterday that he was still coming to grips with his brother’s death. He said Mthokozisi had two toddlers aged two and three, who lived with their mothers in KZN.
“As a family, what we are going through is painful. When I got a call last night that my brother is one of the people who died here, I couldn’t believe it. We can’t control the situation. We just have to accept what has happened. There is nothing we can do,” said Nxumalo.
Ntombi Bhengu’s heart sank when she heard President Cyril Ramaphosa reading out the names of the people who had died since the wave of riots in his address to the nation on Monday night.
Her nephew, Lindani Bhengu, 20, was one of the names that were read. He died at Dobsonville Mall, also in Soweto, when there was looting.
Yesterday, Ntombi was still questioning the manner her nephew died.
“He was hit in the back of his thigh by a stray bullet and he bled out because he didn't receive immediate medical attention,” said Bhengu.
Lindani was part of a crowd of more than 200 people who converged at the Dobsonville Mall on Sunday night.
“He was sitting indoors the whole day watching movies on his laptop. He left the house at around 7pm when his friends called him to go outside. They joined a crowd of people headed towards the mall,” said Bhengu.
“The security guard who was trying to help him told me that Lindani said when they got to the mall, his friends said they should go with the crowd and loot, but he refused and stood a bit further away from them. While standing there, he was hit by a bullet – we are not sure who fired it, maybe the police or the security guards – but they were dispersing the crowd.”
She said Lindani moved to Gauteng in January with a dream of furthering his studies.
When Sowetan visited Dobsonville Hostel, where Lindani lived, people could be seen moving around and consuming alcohol.
About three men were also seen offloading boxes of alcohol into one of the dwellings.
Police minister Bheki Cele yesterday said 757 people were detained in connection with the ongoing violence, 304 in KwaZulu-Natal and 453 in Gauteng.
“We also issue a stern warning to those circulating inflammatory messages on social media platforms which are aimed at inciting violence and disregard of the law,” said Cele.
“We are looking at between 10 to 12 names of instigators that are being investigated in an effort to charge them.”
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