Four men shot dead a bouncer and a 25-year-old woman who was with them at the weekend.
This was after a violent outburst triggered by a man trying to chat up one of women hanging out with the gang inside a Ndevana tavern.
Mzuvukile Putuma, 35, who tried to chat up the woman outside Zanyiwe’s Tavern, and a young woman who was driven off by the gang and later shot, are fighting for their lives in hospital.
But Xolisani Bleni, 27, a bouncer at Zanyiwe’s Tavern, died after being shot in the back of his head and right shoulder after he attempted to stop a fight between one of the gunmen and Putuma.
Putuma was shot in the head and stomach and is on life support.
Bleni’s grandmother Nolusapho Mnwana, 73, who lives just behind the tavern, said she quickly gathered her grandchildren to her side when she heard gunshots.
“I called my grandchildren, one by one, and one of them answered telling me that Xolisani had been shot. I ran to the tavern and there he was lying flat on his face in a pool of blood, while the other boy who was shot was still moving and moaning,” she said.
“Police arrived an hour later and the ambulance came even later. He was such a charming, handsome young man with good manners. He was so beautiful you’d think he was a girl.”
Putuma’s mother, Nombuliso was shocked when she learnt on Saturday morning that her only son, who had four sisters, had been shot.
“He works for Amatole Water testing water in Alice, so he is hardly home, but every weekend he comes back. He had just got home to have supper when he left for the tavern to meet some cousins. Now he is on life support,” she said.
In a gruesome twist, two young women who were seen leaving with the gunmen after Bleni and Putuma were gunned down, were shot and dumped. One of the women, whose name was not known, survived and is in a critical conditions at hospital, according to police.
However, Siphosethu Tomas, 25, a mother of a three-year-old boy, was found dead in the streets of Zone 4 in Zwelitsha.
Police spokeswoman of the King William’s Town Cluster, Captain Siphokazi Mawisa, said the second woman, whose name was not known, was fighting for her life.
“The police identified the girls as the same girls who were with the suspects as confirmed by video footage at a tavern in Ndevana that morning. Two empty 9mm cartridges were found on the scene,” said Mawisa.
Mawisa said the gang also hijacked a vehicle after they shot the two women in Zwelitsha.
“The victim of the hijacking was sitting in a car outside a tavern in Zone 4 in Zwelitsha together with his three friends. The group heard gunshots being fired about 100 metres away from them and within five minutes they were approached by four men carrying firearms. The suspects ordered them out of their vehicle and they took their cellphones and a silver VW Polo Vivo and drove off. The victim of the hijacking was assisted by another friend who drove him to the police station to report the case.”
But they were spotted by the gang. “They were chased by the suspects who were driving the victim’s vehicle but they managed to speed off and reach the police station when policemen chased after the stolen vehicle to Polar Park in Dimbaza, where the suspects abandoned the vehicle.”
Mawisa said it was upon their return to Zwelitsha with the hijacking victim and his friends when they found the body of Siphosethu Tomas on the street near the tavern. “Suspects are still at large and a team has been established to follow any leads.”
Anyone with information can contact Zwelitsha SAPS Detective Warrant Officer Ntabethemba Ngcanga on 0827985860 or 040 655 1925 or 0713661907.
EC tavern gun spree leaves two dead
This was after a violent outburst triggered by a man trying to chat up one of women hanging out with the gang inside a Ndevana tavern.
Mzuvukile Putuma, 35, who tried to chat up the woman outside Zanyiwe’s Tavern, and a young woman who was driven off by the gang and later shot, are fighting for their lives in hospital.
But Xolisani Bleni, 27, a bouncer at Zanyiwe’s Tavern, died after being shot in the back of his head and right shoulder after he attempted to stop a fight between one of the gunmen and Putuma.
Putuma was shot in the head and stomach and is on life support.
Bleni’s grandmother Nolusapho Mnwana, 73, who lives just behind the tavern, said she quickly gathered her grandchildren to her side when she heard gunshots.
“I called my grandchildren, one by one, and one of them answered telling me that Xolisani had been shot. I ran to the tavern and there he was lying flat on his face in a pool of blood, while the other boy who was shot was still moving and moaning,” she said.
“Police arrived an hour later and the ambulance came even later. He was such a charming, handsome young man with good manners. He was so beautiful you’d think he was a girl.”
Putuma’s mother, Nombuliso was shocked when she learnt on Saturday morning that her only son, who had four sisters, had been shot.
“He works for Amatole Water testing water in Alice, so he is hardly home, but every weekend he comes back. He had just got home to have supper when he left for the tavern to meet some cousins. Now he is on life support,” she said.
In a gruesome twist, two young women who were seen leaving with the gunmen after Bleni and Putuma were gunned down, were shot and dumped. One of the women, whose name was not known, survived and is in a critical conditions at hospital, according to police.
However, Siphosethu Tomas, 25, a mother of a three-year-old boy, was found dead in the streets of Zone 4 in Zwelitsha.
Police spokeswoman of the King William’s Town Cluster, Captain Siphokazi Mawisa, said the second woman, whose name was not known, was fighting for her life.
“The police identified the girls as the same girls who were with the suspects as confirmed by video footage at a tavern in Ndevana that morning. Two empty 9mm cartridges were found on the scene,” said Mawisa.
Mawisa said the gang also hijacked a vehicle after they shot the two women in Zwelitsha.
“The victim of the hijacking was sitting in a car outside a tavern in Zone 4 in Zwelitsha together with his three friends. The group heard gunshots being fired about 100 metres away from them and within five minutes they were approached by four men carrying firearms. The suspects ordered them out of their vehicle and they took their cellphones and a silver VW Polo Vivo and drove off. The victim of the hijacking was assisted by another friend who drove him to the police station to report the case.”
But they were spotted by the gang. “They were chased by the suspects who were driving the victim’s vehicle but they managed to speed off and reach the police station when policemen chased after the stolen vehicle to Polar Park in Dimbaza, where the suspects abandoned the vehicle.”
Mawisa said it was upon their return to Zwelitsha with the hijacking victim and his friends when they found the body of Siphosethu Tomas on the street near the tavern. “Suspects are still at large and a team has been established to follow any leads.”
Anyone with information can contact Zwelitsha SAPS Detective Warrant Officer Ntabethemba Ngcanga on 0827985860 or 040 655 1925 or 0713661907.
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