Durban - Mystery surrounds the death of a Department of Correctional Services prison warder who was found dead in his vehicle in Shallcross on Saturday, riddled with bullet wounds.
Shallcross Crime Forum spokesperson Mahendra Lillkan said the local neighbourhood watch team had responded to the shooting incident at Joydeens Centre in Everest Street early on Saturday morning.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said Stanley Pillay, 47, had been fatally shot while he was seated in his vehicle at around 12.15am.
Lillkan said Pillay had been shot multiple times at close range. He was transported to hospital, where he died.
Gwala said the motive for the murder was yet to be established and the police investigation was continuing. No arrests have yet been made.
Chatsworth SAPS is investigating a case of murder.
Pillay lived in staff accommodation at the Durban Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in Westville. He was a warden at Westville Prison. Pillay was cremated at the Clare Estate Crematorium on Sunday.
Colleagues at Durban (Westville) Correctional Services, who cannot be named because they are not allowed to speak to the media, on Monday described Pillay as a “harmless and jovial person” who loved football.
Colleagues said he had close to 25 years’ service with the DCS. They said the news came as a shock.
The DCS could not be reached for comment on Monday.
Pillay’s family declined to comment.
Lillkan said Pillay was known in the community and everyone was shocked. Pillay was involved in volleyball and the local snooker pool league.
There had been a spate of shooting incidents in the past week leading up to the new year.
Bradley Hiralal, from Stonebridge in Phoenix, and Bilquees Hussain, from Newlands West, were shot on Saturday while travelling along uMhlanga Rocks Drive.
A car drove up alongside them and one of the occupants fired several shots at them. Hiralal died in hospital and Hussain died at the scene.
Police spokesperson Nqobile Gwala said Durban North police were investigating the incident.
A 29-year-old man was shot several times on Buckingham Terrace in Westville on Friday. Mobi-Claw 911 spokesperson Mike Myers said the incident was a drive-by shooting.
He said the victim’s car came to a standstill in the middle of the road.
Myers said the victim had been shot in his chest and both legs. He was stabilised at the scene before being transported to hospital.
Myers said the motive for the shooting was unknown but it appeared to be a “hit”.
Gwala said Westville police were investigating a case of attempted murder.
Last Tuesday, Pinetown police station constable Nkosie Mntungwa, 25, was found dead with a bullet wound to his head.
He was slumped over in the driver’s seat of a police Quantum minibus.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Vish Naidoo said the motive for the killing was unknown.
Mntungwa’s pistol and an R5 rifle were still in the vehicle.
There have been no arrests in the murder of Phoenix policeman Theena Pillay, who was shot dead near a relative’s home in Phoenix last Sunday.
In an exchange of gunfire, Pillay, who was seated in his vehicle, had also shot dead the suspect.