Family survives ‘High Chapparal’ shooting

Published Apr 20, 2016

Share

Durban - Taking a stand against the drug trade in the notorious “High Chaparral” area in Greenbury, Phoenix, nearly cost a family, including three toddlers, their lives.

On Saturday evening Nikita King, her two sisters, two sisters-in-law, brother-in-law and three nephews, came under fire at their Rinkgreen Walk home.

King’s sister, Shazia Naicker, 24, was shot in the chest and arms and her brother-in-law, Felton Benjamin, 24, in the stomach.

The couple are recovering in a Durban hospital.

A 17-year-old boy, believed to be the son of a convicted murderer and alleged drug lord, has been arrested and appeared in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Monday along with two others - Seelan Chetty, 35, and Lindani Cele, 23.

They were charged with attempted murder.

Cele and Chetty were denied bailed and the minor was released into his parent’s custody.

Still shaken from the ordeal, King said she and her family had been sitting on the stairs outside their home at about 8pm on Saturday.

“While chatting to my family I saw one of the men walking towards a wall. He was wearing jeans and had a hooded jacket; his hands were in the pockets of his jacket. All of a sudden he pulled out a gun and started shooting. He was joined by two other men.”

King said her family ran for cover and all she could hear was repeated gunfire.

“Shazia was carrying our nephew. She threw him into a nearby bush and she was shot in the chest and arms. Felton was hit in the stomach.”

She said the shooters fled in a BMW.

“Shazia was bleeding profusely and so was Felton. We thought we were going to lose them. The shooters were ruthless. We had three children with us and they did not even care.”

Her relative, Janaid Damans, said he believed the attack was sparked by the family having taken a stand against drugs being sold in the community.

“We know our attackers very well. We used to be friends, but when they started selling drugs in the community we confronted them and told them that we don’t want this in our community. From then on we started receiving death threats.”

Damans claimed the threats were made by a prison inmate. “He calls us from a private number saying he is the Mafia and he will kill our families one by one and burn our houses.”

Fighting back tears, Naicker’s older sister, Geraldene Naidoo, said she wanted justice.

“My sister is an innocent person in all this and she had a baby on her lap. I know that there are worse things coming to these people. We want justice because we cannot live like this.”

Other residents said they were living in fear.

Grandmother of two Angela Moodley, 51, described the neighbourhood as unsafe.

“You don’t know when a shooting will occur and I am so fearful I don’t allow my grandchildren to play outside. I am living in the area for 25 years and drugs have always been a problem for us.”

Moodley said everybody needed to stand together and fight against drugs.

A resident who requested anonymity said drug dealers had threatened to kill her sons and petrol-bomb her house.

“Once you speak against them then you become a target. We cannot live in peace because we are constantly watching our backs,” said the 51-year-old.

Another resident said her biggest concern was the impact drugs had on the children growing up in the area.

“How can we bring up our children in an environment like this? They see first-hand the brutality of drugs,” she said.

Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane confirmed that two counts of attempted murder were being investigated.

[email protected]

POST

* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.

Related Topics: