Durban - The sister of murdered Durban Metro police senior manager Innocent Chamane, 52, says his death has left his family without a pillar of support.
“We still don’t believe this, we are in denial about his death,” Zanele Chamane said on Thursday.
Chamane was not only her brother, she said, but her best friend and a father figure to the rest of his siblings.
“He solved any problems I had. Even at my workplace they called him and asked him for advice.” Chamane was the only son among six siblings.
Zanele, an operations manager at an Inanda clinic, recalled how, when the clinic was inundated with people injured during New Year celebrations two years ago, her brother organised a bakkie to take patients to other clinics and hospitals.
Being supportive was something he had done since he was a child, she said.
He would often come to his sister’s aid if she was being harassed when they were growing up.
“He was a strong fighter. And those who killed him would not have done so if they had to fight him head on. His killers are cowards,” Zanele said.
Chamane was shot outside his home in KwaNgcolosi in Inanda this week.
Among his achievements was being the first black teacher at Durban High School (DHS) where he taught Zulu, she said. Zanele said after leaving DHS, he worked at the KwaMuhle Museum.
Her brother, an Umbumbulu College of Education graduate, was constantly studying and researching.
His violent death reminded the family of how their father died in 1964. Their father was assaulted by people who he believed to be his friends.
On her brother’s death she said: “It was his strictness and no-nonsense attitude that took his life.
“He would fire people for coming to work drunk, for coming late and consistently not meeting deadlines. If he had done nepotism or favouritism I would understand. But for him it was just work, work, work.
“He would admonish me for letting some workers come late and say that I was lax.”
Chamane is to be buried at his home in KwaNgcolosi on Sunday.
Daily News