Durban - An 8-year-old uMlazi boy has been hospitalised three times after he was shot in the arm by a stray bullet believed to be one of those fired randomly, allegedly by members of the uMkhonto weSizwe Military Veterans.
There are contradictory versions by the boy’s father and the area ward councillor about when the incident occurred.
Sibongiseni’s father, Thembinkosi Kheswa, said the boy was playing in the street with other children when shots were fired in the air by the former guerrillas.
Kheswa said the veterans were on their way back from the mortuary after fetching one of their companions, Nhlanhla Hadebe, on Saturday afternoon in preparation for his funeral on Sunday.
“It was around 6.30pm when I received a call that I should rush the child to hospital because he had been shot. I rushed him to Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital where he was operated on and the bullet removed. He was discharged at about midnight. His mother took him with her to Ntuzuma to be close and care for him. On Monday morning, he was admitted again at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Hospital after he cried the whole night because of pains,” said his father.
The father told the Daily News on Tuesday it would take a long time for his son to recover.
“By the look of things, he is still to stay for a long time in hospital. He is undergoing counselling and physiotherapy.”
The boy was on Tuesday transferred to Addington Hospital.
Police spokesman, Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane, said: “We can confirm an incident that occurred on September 24 at 6.30pm where an 8-year-old child was shot in the arm at G-section informal settlement. A case of attempted murder was opened at uMlazi police station and no arrests have been made.”
Area councillor, Sthenjwa Nyawose, said he had learnt that the boy was injured on Sunday.
“During the funeral procession, there was a gun salute fired from different automatic rifles. People were cowering throughout the procession,” said Nyawose.
Chairman of the MK Veterans Association in KZN, Themba Mavundla, said he was unaware of the incident. He said he was in Howick attending a funeral of another uMkhonto weSizwe veteran.
He said they would investigate.
Mavundla said the MK did not support the firing of guns at funerals.
He said the organisation had long since banned the practice.
Community Safety and Liaison spokesman, Kwanele Ncalane, said: “We strongly condemn people who do these illegal gun salutes.”
Ncalane said the department would look into the matter.
Daily News