Durban - Quick-thinking police arrested a brazen gang hours after they murdered and disarmed a security guard in KwaMashu this week. A second guard was assaulted and was recovering in hospital.
The drama started when four men confronted two Enforce guards waiting to escort municipal workers in the township’s E Section at about 10am on Tuesday.
On Wednesday the Enforce managing director, Anthony Feuilherade, said that one of the guards was outside the car when the attackers pounced.
The guard who died, Sibusiso Stanley Ngema, 45, was in the vehicle.
“Most of them were armed. They came to the surviving guard first and he had no chance - so he took out his firearm and handed it to them.”
He said the surviving guard had recently survived an ambush in the same township when the car he was travelling in was shot six times.
The second guard pulled out his gun and opened fire.
“He hit one suspect twice - in the arm and leg. He was shot four or five times and was killed,” he said.
A KwaMashu police source said police followed a trail of blood from the scene, which led to a flat in the notorious KwaMashu hostel.
When police got to the flat they were told the suspect had been taken to King Edward VIII Hospital by his friends.
Severity
From King Edward, the suspect was transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital because of the severity of his wounds.
“We got a tip-off from a King Edward hospital informer that a group of guys were on their way to Albert Luthuli to pick up the injured accomplice,” he said.
However, when the police arrived, the gang, in a VW Caddy, saw them, panicked and made a run for it.
They drove through the hospital’s main gate, rammed into a red Audi and then continued into oncoming traffic. One of the suspects jumped out of the speeding car but was arrested.
The VW Caddy suddenly stopped and the injured and bleeding suspects all tried to run away. They were chased and caught by the police.
Police spokesman Thulani Zwane said the suspects were arrested and charged with murder, attempted murder and armed robbery.
“One of the suspects sustained a broken leg as a result of a collision and was taken to hospital under police guard.
“The officers also arrested the fourth suspect, who they had been visiting in hospital,” he said.
Feuilherade said Enforce had had about “five or six incidents” in three years. Eight firearms were stolen in that period, although some had been recovered.
“They are a syndicate who target the guys for their firearms. They need guns to pull off bigger jobs and don’t care for a life, which is sad and worrying.”
The men, all between 29 and 36, would appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court soon.
The Mercury