Police are searching for two young men who shot dead a Kenville grandfather outside a primary school last week Thursday and were caught on a CCTV camera abandoning the vehicle minutes later in Nandi Drive.
Maduray Govender, 67, pictured, had been seated in his Toyota Tazz outside Kenville Primary School in Smithfield Road around 1pm, waiting for his 6-year-old granddaughter, when he was approached by two gun-toting hijackers.
Simphiwe Tomo, who transports children to school, said he had witnessed the incident.
He said he had been parked across from Govender when two men approached him.
“There was a struggle in the car and I heard a gunshot.
“He (Govender) got out of car and walked across (the road). That is when everyone got up to help him. He was fighting for his life and died at the scene,” he said. “It is very sad.”
The hijackers, believed to be in their 20s, escaped – the shooter on foot and his accomplice in the hijacked vehicle.
But both men can clearly be seen together in the footage which was captured when they abandoned the car.
No arrests were made by the time of publication yesterday (Tuesday) and police were still collecting DNA evidence from the recovered vehicle.
Govender’s family are devastated.
His son-in-law, Preggie Govender, said his daughter had to be taken out of the school grounds through an alternate exit.
“She is hearing everyone talking about the incident and she misses her grandfather. We all lived together.”
The victim, a retired building contractor who was also known as Rogers, had arrived outside the school just before 1pm on Thursday.
“My wife and I were notified about the shooting shortly after by another relative who was also fetching their child from school.
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Preggie described Maduray as a “very caring person”. “He was the type of person who went out his way to help everyone. His death is a loss to the community.”
He added: “To think that a shooting took place outside the school is most scary. Any of the children could also have been shot.”
A couple waiting in their car for their daughter on Monday also described the incident as “scary”.
‘We arrived minutes after the shooting happened. It was very scary. Crime is bad in the area. Police need to patrol more, especially when kids are finishing school.”
They added that they had chosen not to arrive at the school early. “We prefer to arrive on time and not park outside the school yard for too long.”
Nehsen Chetty, a member of the local community policing forum, said this was one of the “major things” to happen in Kenville in recent times. The murder had shocked the community as it had taken place in broad daylight, he said.