Pietermaritzburg -”Take this as a warning. If you don’t want to die, stay the f*** away from me and my wife.”
This chilling text message was sent by former policeman Ganas Moodley a month before he shot two of his relatives at their Pietermaritzburg home.
The shooting of his brother-in-law Ronnie Moodley and Moodley’s wife, Saras, both senior teachers, on Sunday night has rocked the community and left their families devastated.
Ronnie, 50, who was shot in the stomach and leg, is in the ICU of a private hospital. But his beloved wife died on the scene.
Saras, 52, was shot in the neck.
The couple, likened to newlyweds by family and friends, because they did everything together, have two adult children, one of whom was at home with his girlfriend at the time. They hid in a bedroom and were not hurt.
Ganas, who was estranged from his wife, Ronnie’s sister, fired several shots before leaving the house and turning the gun on himself. He died in the driveway.
Speaking to POST a day after the tragedy, the couple’s youngest son, Yerushan, 20, an agricultural engineering student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said Ganas had blamed his parents for his separation from his wife.
“Ganas and his wife were separated for over a year. She (the wife) was close to my parents and my mom supported her, but that was it.
“Ganas believed my parents were influencing her to stay away from him but this was not the case,” said Yerushan. “My parents did not interfere, but offered her support.”
He said Ganas had sent his mother the text warning a month ago but his parents had not taken it seriously.
On Sunday around 5.25pm, his parents had been home watching the T20 cricket.
“When the intercom rang, it was Ganas and we opened the driveway gate for him. My girlfriend arrived at the same time. My parents opened the door. My dad made it clear to Ganas that he and my motherhad no involvement in their issues and asked if he wanted to come inside the house. But Ganas said he would stand outside.”
Yerushen said he and his girlfriend, Kelisha Premlall, and his mother walked into the lounge to watch the cricket while his father and Ganas stood at the kitchen door talking.
“My mother offered us drinks... She was walking towards the kettle when we heard two loud bangs,” he said. “I ran to the kitchen and saw my father, who was shot, trying to push Ganas away. I ran into one of the bedrooms and tried to press the panic button.”
Yerushen said Kelisha also ran into the room, they locked themselves in and contacted the police.
He said several more shots were fired. “It seemed after Ganas shot my parents, he went in the driveway, saw the gate closed and turned the gun on himself.”
When police and paramedics arrived Ganas was already dead. “My father asked paramedics to help my mother first, but it was too late.”
Kelisha said she tried to give CPR, but in vain: “Saras had been shot in the neck.”
Saras, a teacher at Arthur Blaxall School, and Ronnie, a teacher at Orient Heights Primary, had returned from a holiday in the Seychelles a week earlier. Their family described them as people who “won’t harm a fly”.
“They were the most passive and closest couple; the only time they were separated from each other was at school,” said a relative, Veeran Kullan. “Other than that they were always together, whether going for a walk or walking to the shop to buy bread.”
“They were a couple married for many years, but when people looked at them, you would think they married yesterday,” said Veeran’s daughter, Reva.
Yerushen said the focus now was on getting his father on the road to recovery. “He needs to know we are here for him.”
Ronnie was told of his wife’s death on Monday morning.
The couple’s eldest son, Keveshen, 27, got married three months ago.
Trevor Naidoo, principal at Orient Heights Primary, described Ronnie as a “true gentleman”. “He is the head of department at school; he is an outstanding teacher, in a class of his own. He is humble and selfless, and so was his wife. This is very hard to come to terms with.”
Police spokesman Major Shooz Magudulela said a case of murder and attempted murder had been opened at Mountain Rise Police Station and an inquest opened in respect of the dead suspect.
Another spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane, confirmed that Ganas Moodley had been based at the Loop Street police station when he had resigned.
POST