Hero died helping hijacked woman

“HE PUT others before himself, and for that he paid with his life.”

This is according to a Khayelitsha family, whose son, Lusindiso Ngcefa, was shot in the head when he attempted to rescue a primary school teacher from being hijacked on the corner of Swartklip and Auber Road in Tembani, Khayelitsha, on Monday.

The 32-year-old intervened when he saw the two thugs pulling the women out of her vehicle after she had stopped at a red traffic light.

Witnesses say Ngcefa was the first to go outside to check when the woman was heard screaming. His cousin Zintle Mzoboshe said Ngcefa’s heroic efforts made him loved by many residents in the area.

“After the car stopped, one of them jumped to the door, opened it and dragged the woman out of it. The other one was standing on the other side of the car. The lady screamed. She fell outside, but not entirely. She got tied up by the safety belt. She was dragged as the car was moving,” she said.

“My cousin had two rocks in his hand and was about to throw one at one of the hijackers when they shot him in the head. They got into the car and drove away. The lady was still tied and being dragged,” said Mzoboshe.

She said the hijackers drove for about 200m, then stopped to remove the woman. Mzoboshe said a police vehicle arrived, and the thugs fled into the bushes.

“When he (Ngcefa) was taken away in an ambulance, he was still alive. The family later received a call informing them that he was not going to make it.”

Ngcefa’s mother, Nobonke Ngcefa, said: “We do not regret his heroic efforts because he was helping another person. The lady is still in hospital, but we don’t know her condition.

“When I heard about it, there was nothing I could do, in as much as it came as a shock.”

Residents said there were no police patrols in the area despite the opening of a mobile police station in the area last year.

Police spokesperson FC van Wyk said there had been no arrests. He said the vehicle was later found abandoned in Swartklip Road. Anyone with information is requested to contact 021 377 5100 or Crime Stop at 08600 10111.