Family want justice after woman is allegedly killed by police looking for looted goods

Zamekile Shangase 33, was shot and killed by the police officers in KwaMadlala informal settlements in Lamontville. The police were in the area to collect looted goods.

Zamekile Shangase 33, was shot and killed by the police officers in KwaMadlala informal settlements in Lamontville. The police were in the area to collect looted goods.

Published Jul 30, 2021

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A LAMONTVILLE man is devastated after his partner was shot and killed allegedly by the police officers in the area to collect looted food this week.

Mongezi Ngwadla said he was shocked by the incident, and wanted justice to be served.

“I was asleep when everything happened, because I work a night shift. I was awoken by a knock on the door, from the neighbours who told me what had happened.”

Neighbours told him that police opened fire, and the bullet hit his partner, Zamekile Shangase, 33, who was originally from Reasdale in uMzimkulu.

“My partner had gone out to look, as there was noise and officers chasing people in the streets.”

He said he wanted justice for Shangase.

“I am battling to give answers to our 6-year-old son about what happened. How do I begin to tell our kids that their mother was shot in cold blood?”

Zamekile Shangase was shot dead in Lamontville, south of Durban allegedly in an exchange of fire between police and gunmen. Picture: Bongani Mbatha/African News Agency(ANA)

Shangase’s cousin, Thembakazi Shangase, said she still could not believe what had happened.

“My cousin was a humble person and she had a big heart. She was even raising her late sister’s 9-year old child,” Thembakazi said, adding that Shangase was “a hustler and a breadwinner” at home.

“She owned a fruit stand. Both her parents are unemployed and her father is handicapped.”

Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson Ndileka Cola said they were investigating circumstances around the death of a 33-year-old woman in Lamontville.

Cola said police were in Madlala informal settlement allegedly raiding the area of looted property from the recent unrest.

“As alleged, the community members mobilised each other, blocked the exit points with stones, cut the tyres of police vehicles and attacked the police. The police allegedly fired warning shots and the woman was later found dead behind one of the shacks metres away from the road where the police were stationed, with a gunshot wound in her body,” Cola said.

She added that Ipid would continue with the investigation of this incident.

Daily News

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