Durban - They lived fast and recklessly and when news of their murders spread through the Georgedale community, near Hammarsdale, hardly anyone grieved.
Six people - four men and two women - were shot dead by five armed men on Friday night, soon after 9pm.
The victims, Siphelele Kubheka, 37, Hlengiwe Dubazana, 20, Siyanda Kubheka, 26, Nonhlanhla Mbhele, 22, Siphamandla Mavundla, 27, and Mcebisi Gondo, 29, were in a house when the gunmen entered. Bongani Ntuli, 29, who was critically wounded, was the only survivor and is in hospital.
Three of the victims were relatives. It’s alleged the group were partying, drinking and smoking whoonga, yet despite the shootings in the community, residents were unfazed by what happened. It’s alleged that among the deceased were troublemakers who dealt in drugs and broke into homes.
Ritta Kubheka, 67, whose two sons Siphelele and Siyanda were killed, along with her granddaughter Hlengiwe, said that one of her sons was a drug dealer.
She was no longer staying with her three children because she got married and moved out of the house in which the shootings took place. Kubheka said she left Siphelele with the house to take care of his siblings but he turned out to be a drug dealer.
She said she tried several times to report her son to the police but nothing happened. She also tried to send him to rehab but he refused to go.
“He would come with his friends, they would smoke and he would sell whoonga. They turned this house into a drug den. It’s sad they passed away in such a manner, I always warned them this would happen. My granddaughter was innocent, she suffered because of her uncle. I wish the police would have taken him away for the sake of his siblings,” she said.
Neighbour Beauty Ngcobo said it was always noisy in the house. But on Friday night she heard the gunshots.
“I locked myself in, I thought they were high until I heard the police and ambulance siren. That’s when I heard about the murders,” she said.
Police spokeswoman Colonel Thembeka Mbhele confirmed Siphelele had a pending case of dealing in drugs and housebreaking.
She said six murder and one attempted murder cases were opened.
“The police have handed over the matter to the provincial task team that will be probing the cases.”