Family of Ngcobo soldier tells of shooting
THE family of the soldier gunned down during last week’s deadly attack in Ngcobo, which left five police officers dead, said yesterday that the badly wounded Corporal Freddy Mbuzeni Mpandeni had managed to crawl for a couple of metres after being shot four times.
Mpandeni had been based in East London.
Previous reports had said that Mpandeni, 56, was retired.
His son, Ncedo, said he suspected that when his father heard the gunshots early on Wednesday, he had gone outside to investigate, despite being unarmed.
“It was not just a stray bullet that hit him – they aimed to kill him,” he said.
“It was a sad moment when I saw my father’s body with a number of bullet holes in it.”
Mpandeni was shot in the collarbone, neck and chest.
“All are from a 9mm and he was clearly shot from close range.”
Ncedo said Mpandeni had been at his house in town, not far from the police station, when the shootings took place.
His wife was at the family’s main home in Ngxogi Village, close to Nyanga Village where the bodies of two of the police officers were found and not far from the controversial Mancoba Seven Angels Ministries where several suspects were shot dead on Friday night.
“Despite having four bullets [in] his body, my father managed to crawl back towards his house, but collapsed [just outside the door],” Ncedo said.
“He was strong to carry himself that distance after [being] shot so many times.”
Ncedo, a security guard in Cape Town, said his father was everything to the family.
“He was a family man. I will always remember him not only as a father, but also as a friend, a mentor and an adviser,” he said.
There will be a memorial service at the Methodist Church in Ngcobo tomorrow for Mpandeni and the five police officers.
Mpandeni will be buried on Saturday at his Ngxogi village home.