Durban - Police thwarted brazen gangsters who tried to rescue an alleged accomplice from a Durban hospital.
After a shootout between the gang and police while pursuing them from Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital, all three were arrested after their car hit another which was stopped at a traffic light.
The man had been taken to the hospital after being wounded in a shootout in which a security guard, former policeman Sibusiso Stanley Ngema, 45, was killed earlier on Wednesday.
Ngema had been working for Enforce Security Services for just 19 days. He was shot five times and died at the scene in KwaMashu
Four gunmen had opened fire with 9mm pistols at E-section, next to Zulu Road and near the KwaMashu men’s hostel, at 10am.
Ngema had pulled out his gun and fired at the thugs, wounding one in the arm and leg.
Ngema’s partner, who had been on duty with him protecting municipal workers performing routine maintenance, escaped unscathed.
The partner had been shot six times in a previous incident in the same township.
The gang escaped after the shooting, said
provincial police spokesman, Major Thulani Zwane.
The wounded suspect was taken by the gang to King Edward VIII Hospital and later transferred to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital.
Police in the interim, received information that he was there and the other suspects were on their way to fetch him.
“While inside the hospital premises, the police saw a suspicious-looking VW Caddy fitting the same description given to them (by witnesses) and they tried to stop it.
“It is alleged that the suspects fled, knocking the boom gate down,” Zwane said.
“Their vehicle… collided with another vehicle which was at the robot on the main road.”
All three suspects in the vehicle were arrested and detained for murder, attempted murder and armed robbery.
Zwane said that one of the suspects sustained a broken leg as a result of a collision and was taken to hospital under police guard.
Police also arrested the fourth injured man in the hospital.
“All arrested suspects, aged between 29 and 36, are due to appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court soon.” He said no-one else was injured during the shooting or in the car crash.
The KZN Department of Health declined comment, referring the Daily News to the police.
Enforce director, Anthony Feuilherade, said the two security guards had been assigned to protect a crew from the electricity department
“We often escort and protect workers while they are doing their installations or repairs. We work with other departments like the water department while it does its plumbing and maintenance.”
He said Ngema had been with his partner near their security vehicle when attacked.
“Shots were fired. There was a gun battle and (Ngema) was shot and died at the scene,” he said.
The company’s head of investigations, Nico Potgieter, said Ngema’s partner had been traumatised by the incident.
“It was quite devastating, but we must commend the police on their brilliant, vigorous work, leading to the arrests of the four men.”
He said he believed the guards were targeted for their revolvers. “Of course, it’s not impossible that the workers were the targets. They are often targeted for their equipment and cellphones. (But) I believe that the guns are more valuable to them ...”
In September, the municipality’s parks, recreation and cemeteries department proposed a R5-million budget to provide security in hot spot areas, including KwaMashu, Ntuzuma, Inanda, uMlazi and Lamontville. Department head, Thembinkosi Ngcobo, said at the time that municipal workers, including brush cutters, were under attack by criminals after their equipment.
The municipality spent millions of rand replacing equipment after workers had been robbed of brush cutters over the past seven years.
Earlier this month, a worker cutting grass in Umlazi was robbed of his machine.
“Two unknown men jumped out of their vehicle, pointed a firearm at them, took the grass cutter and drove off,” police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, said at the time.
Police gave chase, firing shots at suspects’ car, which overturned about 2km away. The suspected robbers were arrested and the machine was recovered. The municipality had not commented on the latest attack by time of publication.
Ngema’s family said that they could not believe that he had been killed.
“We are very sad. We lost a brother, father and son,” said Zakhona Ngema, 38, his sister.
She said that Ngema, from Illovo on the South Coast, had been the breadwinner, supporting his elderly mother and his 20-year-old daughter.
“We are busy arranging the funeral and trying to sort everything out, but it’s hard for us,” she said.
“We’re very happy that the men were arrested and we thank the police for that.”
She said her brother had resigned from the police force after nine years of service due to a physical injury.
“He was a good man, the only son and the eldest (child),” she said.
* Additional reporting by Sihle Mlambo
Daily News