Retired teacher killed in hijacking
SURESH Rajkoomar will be remembered for the impact he had on the people around him.
Rajkoomar, 64, a retired teacher, from Hillside in Ladysmith, was shot dead during a hijacking last week.
Constable Thenjiswa Ngcobo, provincial police spokesperson, said: “It is alleged that the victim was accosted by four armed men who forced him to get back inside his vehicle. The victim did as instructed and they drove towards Steadville.”
Ngcobo said that while one of the hijackers was driving, Rajkoomar tried to grab the firearm from him. A shot went off, wounding the suspect in the thigh.
“The suspect then allegedly shot the victim and robbed him of his bank cards. The vehicle was later found abandoned at Ezakheni in Ladysmith.”
She said police arrested a 33-year-old suspect shortly afterwards and were searching for the others.
Rajkoomar’s brother, Anand Rajkoomar, said the family were trying to cope as best as they could.
“They are trying to be practical about the situation but inside their hearts, they are just torn,” he said.
Anand, a DA councillor in the Alfred Duma Municipality, said the family did not know what had happened and were waiting for the outcome of the police investigation.
He said Rajkoomar retired from teaching at Ladysmith Secondary School about four years ago.
“My brother matriculated from Windsor High School and throughout his schooling career, he performed well academically. After matriculating, he pursued a career in medicine at the then-University of Durban-Westville. He studied for two-and-a-half years before leaving. My brother was a vegetarian and one of his practicals for medical school was to dissect a cadaver. He could not go through with it.”
Anand said Rajkoomar switched to teaching and graduated with a degree.
“He was deployed to a school in Glenco and then, eventually, to Ladysmith Secondary School. My brother had a knack for teaching people. He used a method of helping pupils create pictures in their minds of what he was saying so they could understand him better. A subject like physical science was not easy but his learners had no problem grasping it.”
Anand said many of Rajkoomar’s pupils became doctors and engineers.
“When he retired, he opened a coffee shop near his home. His plan was to sell vedas and samoosas with tea or coffee instead of the traditional coffee and cake. However, due to Covid-19 and the regulations, the business had to close. Early this year, he started giving tuition to pupils again because of the demand from their parents, some of who were his pupils.”
Anand said that although retired, education was essential to his brother.
“My brother was a widower. He had three daughters and a granddaughter who was the apple of his eye. He was a calm person. I never heard him raise his voice. He had a brilliant personality and he loved playing the guitar and would often sing for us.
“Criminality is like a rotting fish, a fish starts to rot from the head. South Africa needs to relook at itself. We are thankful for law enforcement that is working to punish criminals.”
Veni Govender, a former colleague, said: “Suresh was a gracious human being. He was committed to the teaching profession. He was meticulous in everything he did. He approached his work with such humility and he made a difficult subject like physical science easy for his pupils to understand. He was popular with the pupils. He had the gift of teaching.
“We are all shocked by his death because he was such a harmless person.”
Rajkoomar’s former pupils took to social media to pay tribute to him.
One of them, Monwabisi Xola Zungu, said: “Rest in peace, Mr Rajkoomar. The only physics that I know in this world, I was taught by you from Grade 10 to 12. A very smart, intelligent, humble, polite and courteous. There is a lot I can say about you. I am heartbroken.”
Alf Lees, the head of the DA in uThukela, said: “The party in the uThukela District was greatly saddened to hear of the murder. The DA would support the Rajkoomar family as best it can at this difficult time. We ask for the Rajkoomar family to be held up in prayer as they deal with this tragedy.
“The DA trusts that the police would put their full strength into finding the murderers of not only Rajkoomar but the many other shooting murders in uThukela, especially the Estcourt area that seem to go by without the murderers being found and charged.”
Rajkoomar was cremated at the Ladysmith Crematorium on Thursday.