Gran shot in cold blood while asleep
Family in shock after gunmen barge into Zwide home and calmly murder defenceless 74-year-old
maraisr@theherald.co.za
A 74-year-old grandmother, asleep in her bedroom on Tuesday night, did not wake up when two men barged into her home and shot her point blank in the head.
She died in her sleep, her face, still resting on her arm, covered in blood.
Her two daughters had been enjoying a quiet evening at the Zwide home, sitting and chatting with their children, after she had gone to bed.
But a knock on the door ended in the bloody and senseless murder of Nombali Kati.
The terrifying incident lasted no more than two minutes and happened in full view of Kati’s traumatised grandchildren, aged nine and 17.
Distraught and confused,
Kati’s family members are struggling to make sense of what happened as they can think of no reason for her coldblooded murder.
“None of this makes any sense,” her 41-year-old daughter said.
“It doesn’t make sense that she is gone, or that she was killed, or that anyone could ever want to hurt her.
“Did any of this even really happen?” she said, wiping away the tears with the collar of her shirt.
Neighbours and family members filled the lounge of the Livingstone Street home yesterday morning, just hours after the shooting a few metres away.
The door to Kati’s room, which leads into the lounge, was shut.
Several neighbours just shook their heads and gasped in shock as the family recounted the events of Tuesday night.
It was about 7.30pm when the two sisters were sitting with their own children in the lounge.
Their brother lives in a separate room in the backyard and when there was a knock on the backdoor they thought it was him coming to join them.
“One of the kids got up and opened the door and two men wearing masks barged into the room,” Kati’s daughter, who did not want to be named, said.
“One of them had a gun and we were so shocked we didn’t know how to react.”
She said the next few seconds passed by in a haze, like it had happened to someone else.
“They told us to sit down and stay out of their way.
“The one with the gun pointed into the room where my mother was sleeping and asked who was in there.
“I told him my mother was sleeping in the bed.
“He simply pointed the gun into the room, said something that didn’t make any sense to us and fired two shots.
“Then they turned around like nothing had happened and casually walked out the back door.”
She said the children started screaming as she and her sister went into their mother’s room.
She was lying on her stomach, with her head resting on one of her arms, but the bullet hole in her forehead had covered her face with blood.
“We yelled at her, hoping that somehow she might wake up, but we knew she was dead.”
They then started screaming for help from the neighbours, who rushed over and
alerted the police. Police spokesperson Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said a case of murder was under investigation and that the motive had yet to be established.
Kati’s daughter said that before pulling the trigger the man had said something like “you think you can hurt my mother and nothing will happen ”— but they dismissed it as the ramblings of a crazy person as it made no sense to them.
“My mother has lived here for many years and everyone knew her.
“She was like a mother and grandmother to the whole community.
“She never harmed anyone, and I don’t understand why anyone would do something like this to her and our family.”
Asked what they would remember most about Kati, one of her granddaughters smiled and said she had always been very loud.
“When she wasn’t singing gospel or traditional songs, she was forever shouting.
“She would shout praises at us when we did something good, or she would shout at us for being naughty.
“Sometimes she would even shout at the neighbours’ kids like they were her own,” the granddaughter said, laughing and crying at the same time.
She said her grandmother had a great sense of humour, and everyone adored her, which made her murder all the more confusing.
“If they had taken something or robbed us it would have been easier to understand, but right now we cannot make any sense of what happened here,” the granddaughter said.
The arrangements for Kati’s funeral will begin once the rest of the family from out of town has arrived.
Police have urged anyone with information about the incident to contact detective Captain Francois van der Berg on 082-394-5957.
Alternatively, they can contact Crime Stop on 08600 10111, or their nearest police station.