Are our kids safe, minister?
Botched hijackings and hit-style shootings leave Durban reeling
THE REALITY of crime in South Africa hit Durban hard this week. It started with the death of 9-year-old Sadia Sukhraj, who was killed during a hijacking in Shallcross on Monday.
Her death prompted an angry response from the community, who marched under the banner “enough is enough”.
About 1 000 people marched to the Chatsworth central police station, prompting Police Minister Bheki Cele to descend on Chatsworth to restore calm.
But Chatsworth-based teacher Adrian Sivalingam said he could no longer assure his son that he was safe. Sivalingam was among dozens who asked Cele questions at a mass meeting in Chatsworth, which was sparked by Sadia’s death.
Trembling with emotion, Sivalingam told Cele about his reality of crime.
“This morning I dropped off my son at Falcon Park Primary school. He said to me, ‘dad am I safe to jump out?’ I could not answer him.
“I could not give him an answer because between my vehicle and the school gate I did not know whether my child was going to be murdered. Minister, that is the state of crime in Chatsworth,” he said.
On Monday morning, as Sadia travelled with her father to drop off her 7-month-old brother at her grandparents’ house, when three men accosted the family.
Sadia’s father, Pastor Shailendra Sukhraj, and an off-duty policeman gave chase and shot back at the suspects who eventually abandoned the vehicle and fled.
Sadia was found with a gunshot wound to her stomach and died on the way to hospital.
It is unknown at this stage whose firearm killed her but the off-duty policeman has since been cleared by the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).
As the suspects fled, one suspect was beaten to death, while a second was arrested and a third is still at large.
Cele said the police knew who the third suspect was.
The arrested suspect, Sibonelo Mkhize, 39, has been charged with two counts of murder, kidnapping and theft.
But the police have not yet revealed who, in fact, fired the bullet that killed Sadia.
A ballistics report is yet to be compiled, said police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker.
As the community continued to mourn Sadia’s death, Avoca father Kelly Chetty was shot and killed in another botched hijacking as his two children watched as their dad took his last breath.
He had stopped on the side of Umhlangane Road to buy vegetables when he was accosted by three men who shot him.
Two suspects were killed in a shootout with the police at the Kwamashu Hostel on Friday morning, while a third suspect who was injured in the shooting, was arrested at Kwamashu’s Poly Clinic while receiving treatment.
Also on Friday morning, two people were killed in drive-by shootings in Durban.
Nathaniel Naidoo, 25, was on his way to work at The Oyster Box hotel in umhlanga with his lift club.
Naidoo, from Trenance Park, Verulam, was sitting in the front passenger seat with Nico Moonsamy driving, while three others were at the back.
On Neptune Drive in Ottawa, Verulam, an armed gang in a white Fiat Uno pulled up next to them and opened fire, shooting Moonsamy in the leg.
Naidoo was shot in the head and died at hospital.
In the second drive-by shooting businessman Steven Celliers, 40, was shot dead outside his Prospecton logistics company in what has been described as a hit-style shooting.
It has been reported by the Independent on Saturday that the suspects called out Celliers’ name before pulling the trigger.