Woman recalls night mom was killed

“For the rest my life I will never forget the night of October 6 2015,” said Ndibela village resident Simamkele Fuba.

Describing in detail to the Daily Dispatch the events of the night her mother, Nokholeji Fuba, 69, was killed, Fuba said she had “stared death in the eyes”.

“Thirteen bullets were sprayed into my mother that night,” she said. “How they missed the children who were sleeping next to her, I don’t know.”

Fuba, 26, said the same gunman who shot her mother, then turned his weapon on her.

“He shot at me, not only once but twice. That I will never ever forget,” she said fighting back tears.

The evening had started out like any other as the family settled down for the night in their rondavel. Fuba said she was with her mother and three young children, one her daughter and the other two a nephew and a niece.

She said her mother had gone to bed at her usual time with the grandchildren and she was watching television when there was a knock at the door at about 9pm.

The door was not locked and the person was told to enter.

“When he was in, I noticed that he was wearing a balaclava,” said Fuba.

“My mother tried to sit up. Without saying a word, he opened fire.

“He could have finished me if another man had not entered the house and stopped him,” Fuba said.

The shooter was pulled out of the house by the other man.

“He ordered him to stop and dragged him out of the house.”

The 26-year-old survivor, who is in her fourth year studying information technology, said it was a miracle the young children had not been shot.

“After the men left, I noticed that my mother was still breathing and that gave me hope that she was going to survive.”

Fuba said as she ran to her uncle’s house nearby, she noticed the killer’s vehicle drive away at a high speed.

Her mother was loaded into a vehicle and rushed to the Mthatha Regional Hospital, a journey of about 70km. On arrival, she was transferred to the Nelson Mandela Central Hospital.

“My brother and I were holding her when I noticed that she was now struggling to breathe. It was only then that I realised that she was taking her last breath.”

Fuba, a born-again Christian, said although she had forgiven those who robbed her of her mother, she still feels they should pay for what they did.

Three men were arrested for the shooting. One has been released while the other two were remanded in custody.

“They are still on trial and we want answers,” said Fuba. “They must just rot in jail, even though we know that will not bring back our mother.”