Durban – While police continued the manhunt for Thembinkosi Ngcobo, the South African National Defence Force soldier who went on a shooting spree, his girlfriend blames herself for what happened.
He apparently drove 1200km from his military base in Upington to Inanda and Ntuzuma on Tuesday in the belief that his girlfriend was having an affair, which her brother on Wednesday denied.
In search of his girlfriend, the soldier, from 8 South African Infantry Battalion, and who served in Sudan in 2015, allegedly shot three of her relatives, one of whom died.
The couple were engaged and have a 2-month-old baby.
The woman’s brother, who did not want to be named, said on Wednesday: ”My sister is constantly crying and believes she is the cause of this.”
The brother, who has also gone into hiding, said his mother was in a daze and could not get her head around what had happened. “She is heavily traumatised,” he said.
The brother said he was also shocked by the attack and had problems sleeping.
The soldier’s assault rifle. Picture: Supplied
He said that on Monday night his sister received a call from Ngcobo claiming he’d heard rumours she had been unfaithful. He told her he was going to kill her, their son and then himself.
“When I first met him, he did not come across as violent. Even after he hit my sister, he apologised and said he would not do it again. So when he was shooting people, I was shocked.”
Brigadier-General Mafi Mgobozi, a South African Defence Force (SANDF) spokesperson, said Ngcobo joined the army in 2013 and was deployed to Sudan in 2015.
Mgobozi said Ngcobo had gone Awol (absent without leave).
This is not the first time an alleged domestic dispute has turned violent.
An SANDF soldier, Joel Mohoase, killed his wife by throwing two grenades at her in their eManzimtoti home two years ago.