Cape Town - A Cape Town police officer shot dead his estranged wife before turning the gun on himself, after finding out their divorce had been finalised.
Police say Sergeant Khanyiso Nyhudwana’s body was found at his home in Site B, Khayelitsha, just hours after he killed his ex-wife, Nwabisa Benya, 39, near her home.
Relatives of the deceased claim the cop was on two weeks’ annual leave, but was in uniform when he came to shoot Nwabia with his service pistol.
Spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk says the tragedy unfolded on Saturday at around 9pm.
“A 40-year-old sergeant stationed at Harare SAPS went to Qampi Street, Site B, where his wife stays and wanted to see the deceased,” he explains.
“They both went out of the house and he shot her several times to her upper body, he then went to his house and shot himself.
“Murder and inquest cases were opened for further investigation.”
This is the second murder-suicide involving a police officer in Khayelitsha in the space of a month.
Three weeks ago Constable Sithembele Makhe, 28, shot himself at his Kuyasa home when his colleagues arrived to arrest him for the murder of his girlfriend Thulelwa Nogilana, 34, at her home in Lingelethu West.
Nwabisa’s relatives says the protection order she had against Nyhudwana meant nothing.
Cousin Magcinonke Lavisa, 42, says: “This did not start [on Saturday]. This man was here last week and he was threatening her and her father.”
He said the couple’s marriage was troubled, but they kept getting back together.
“She moved back home in January after he had kicked her out, she told me he drank and often took it out on her and would threaten her with the gun,” added Magcinonke.
“She went to police a few years ago and complained about the gun and it was taken away but she was surprised to see it back in his possession without her being told.
“After some time she filed for divorce again and when it went through on Friday, he threatened her again.
“She and her family got a restraining order against him but that didn’t stop him.
“That man shot her with his work gun. He didn’t respect the law and the same law that was meant to protect her, had failed her.”
Daily Voice