DURBAN – Excitement was mounting in the Zwane household with just six months to go before the wedding.
But those feelings were marred by disbelief and grief when the soon-to-be-groom, Warrant Officer Duncan Ndabenhle Zwane, was shot dead while responding to an attempted robbery in Hammarsdale earlier this week.
Speaking to the Daily News, Zwane’s sister Philisiwe said she was “deeply saddened” to hear that her brother had been killed in the attack.
The incident, which claimed the lives of Zwane and eight other men, has rocked the Hammarsdale township, west of the city.
“My brother was a kind man who loved his work. He was to be married to the love of his life in December. They were planning their wedding,” she said.
Philisiwe said her 44-year old brother had always wanted to be a policeman.
“He and my other brother were both police officers and both died by the bullet,” she explained.
Philisiwe said her elder brother was killed in a shooting in 1996 outside a court.
Philisiwe said Zwane loved taking care of his family and the cattle that his late father had left behind.
“He was a happy man who made time for his family and friends,” she said.
Zwane worked for the SAPS Mounted Unit and he joined the National Intelligence Unit (NIU) in 1998.
On Monday morning, Zwane, NIU officers and members of the SAPS K9 Unit came under fire after they were spotted by a gang of men, who had planned to bomb an ATM in the area.
The gang opened fire on police, who shot back. Zwane was fatally wounded.
Three of the gang members were killed just a few metres from the scene, while police tracked down the remaining members at a homestead in Mophela.
“In another exchange of gunfire where police were forced to respond, a further five suspects were fatally wounded,” said Brigadier Jay Naicker, police spokesperson.
Mxolisi Kaunda, MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, said Zwane was “a hero who died in the cause of defending the people”.
Kaunda was speaking during his visit to Zwane’s family in eMphophomeni, outside Howick, on Tuesday.
Five police officers have been killed in KZN since the beginning of this year.