Johannesburg - A love triangle is believed to be behind a Mpumalanga government official driving to a Gauteng cemetery, where he shot and killed himself on his mother’s grave.
The incident took place at about 6am last Monday at the Mohlakeng Cemetery, west of Joburg.
A passer-by witnessed the body lying on the grave and immediately called the police.
The killing followed shortly after the man, Thabo Koloko, had left Mpumalanga for Mafikeng, North West, where he allegedly found his girlfriend with a lover.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Solomon Sibiya said Koloko had allegedly shot the lover before taking his girlfriend with him.
“When they got to Gauteng, on the R41, he allegedly fired shots at the woman and left her on the side of the road for dead,” Sibiya said. An inquest docket was opened.
He could not give details where in Mafikeng it took place as they were still investigating the case.
On Sunday afternoon, Sibiya indicated that the woman had survived the shooting and was being treated in hospital.
It was not clear whether she was still in Gauteng or if she had been taken back to Mafikeng for hospitalisation.
He said her family had been notified.
It is believed that Koloko had met his girlfriend in Mpumalanga, where the woman hails from. She then moved to work in North West.
On Friday morning, funeral preparations were under way at Koloko’s Mohlakeng home on the West Rand.
A man who identified himself as the family spokesman confirmed the incident.
He said the funeral was to have taken place on Saturday at a local church.
The family did not have much information, he added.
The Star