Widow wants justice for slain anti-crime forum member

THULANI Mhlongo, 69, an anticrime forum Isikebhe member, wants justice for her husband’s murder at his home on Thursday evening.

It is alleged that an unknown man accompanied by two others knocked at Mhlongo’s house, and when his wife, Thembelihle Mhlongo, 54, answered they demanded that Mhlongo step outside the house to talk to him.

Thembelihle said a few seconds after her husband went out, gunshots were heard.

She said Mhlongo, who was already wounded, ran into the house as he was being followed by three men carrying guns.

Thembelihle said the suspects stormed into the kitchen and riddled her husband with multiple bullets while he lay helplessly on the floor.

“I asked them why they were killing him and one said they wanted to deal with him as an Isikebhe member. I have never seen such brutality in my life. Our young children were playing outside when this incident occurred.

“Their condition is troubling me. They haven’t been able to go to school because they are traumatised. I am also afraid of what might happen next because we are not sure if these criminals are coming back,” she said.

Thembelihle urged the police to ensure that justice is served.

“From what I know, my husband has never assaulted or killed anyone. What happened to him was vicious and we ask the police to intervene,” she said.

KZN Social Development Department spokesperson Mhlaba Memela said the department would send a team of social workers to provide psycho-social support and trauma containment for the family.

“We send our heartfelt condolences to the family and the community of Kwamaphumulo,” said Memela.

Kwazulu-natal Police Spokesperson Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo said Maphumulo police were investigating the murder of a 69-year-old man allegedly shot and killed in his home.

Last year in March, a prominent member of the Manguzi Community Policing Forum, Sandile “Mteshe” Tembe, was shot dead near his home in Manguzi, north of Kwazulu-natal.

In August 2023, Kwazulu-natal provincial Community Policing Forum board member Mthunzi Mathenjwa was shot and killed outside his home in Empangeni.

In December, the deputy chairperson of the Gugulethu Community Policing Forum, Lulama Dinginto, was gunned down.

Whatsapp your views on this story to 071 485 7995.