Four people, three of them tuck shop owners have been gunned down in Ratanda township in Heidelberg, some 50km southeast of Joburg, close to the Mpumalanga border, over the past month.
The other person to be murdered was related to one of the tuck shop owners, Happy Nyawuza. Another spaza shop owner is currently fighting for his life in hospital.
Some of the businesspeople were part of the Ratanda Spaza Shop Forum, which allocated dozens of shops to themselves and other community members after previous owners were driven out of the community due to tensions in 2023.
The killings had been happening since February 9, and every Friday after that, said the forum’s secretary Bayanda Radebe.
The deceased are Mandla Ncoco, Nyawuza, Moeketsi Mollo and Nyawuza’s cousin Nkosinathi Ngondo.
Provincial police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo could only confirm an investigation into Ncoco’s murder. Ncoco, 55, was allegedly killed by four assailants who invaded his home at about 3.25am on February 23 during power cuts.
His wife, who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation, said she was woken up by sounds of someone banging on the kitchen burglar door.
“I was sleeping in the main bedroom with my last-born child when I kept hearing this sound. I got up and went to check who it was. When I stood at the passage of the kitchen I could see shadows through the window... the killers were drilling through the burglar door. They eventually managed to cut through the burglar door and broke down the door,” she said.
She said after gaining entry, the assailants gathered everyone who was in the house.
“One had a long gun which he put against my back, pushing me down the corridor towards my son’s bedroom while asking where my husband was,” said the wife.
She said she and her children were made to lie down.
“They proceeded to take me outside and demanded to know where my husband was sleeping. The one with the long gun slapped me multiple times in the face and hit me with the gun on my head,” she said.
Mandla’s 22-year-old son said he begged them not to hurt his mother.
“One of the guys said nothing would happen to us if we did what they wanted us to do. He left and they brought my mother in and then took me. I led them to the back and pointed them to the room where my father was sleeping. They drilled the gate, went inside and shot my father multiple times,” said the son who also asked not to be named.
“The police arrived two hours later, with the ambulance arriving just after them. I went to show them where my father was sleeping when he was shot. There were so many cartridges,” said the son.
The police station is located within a 1km radius from the victims' home.
Nyawuza, 40, was killed on March 1 at his spaza shop around 6pm when there was also no electricity.
His mother Nomasonto said Nyawuza was always receiving threats but took them lightly. “He said to me in January, ‘Mama, if I die there’s nothing I can do about it.’ I didn’t know what to do,” said Nomasonto.
Nomasonto said in September she received an SMS from someone asking if she had taken out funeral policies for Nyawuza because he would get killed.
“I was in church, Happy was sitting next to me. I immediately showed him the SMS but he said it was not serious and told me not worry about it ... but I was terrified. I even went to the police but they said they couldn’t trace the number. I tried calling the number but it didn’t even ring.”
Radebe said when they arrived at Nyawuza's shop, there were two bodies, including that of Ngondo. Nyawuza's body was inside the shop while his cousin’s was at the street corner," he said.
“They [killers] arrived in two grey cars and parked just around the bend. They proceeded to the shop, where one of them handed R40 to Happy to buy airtime. Happy took the money and went to cash it when he noticed that the money was R3 short. Just as he was about to turn around, the guy had placed a gun through the burglar gate, pointing it directly up his chin and shot him. Happy fell to the ground and more bullets were fired at him,” said Radebe.
He said Ngondo had initially been confronted by the men who killed them at Nyawuza's home minutes before they went to his shop.
“He [Ngondo] must have realised later that his uncle was in danger and ran towards the tuck shop to warn him,” said Radebe.
mashalek@sowetan.co.za
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