Metro cop shoots wife, wounds intervening son, then kills himself
A DURBAN metro police officer allegedly shot dead his wife before turning the gun on himself at Illovu, south of Durban.
The couple’s 19-year-old son, who is believed to have tried to intervene, suffered a gunshot wound to his arm.
This is the second gender-based violence (GBV) incident involving a Durban metro police officer in the past two months. Last month, officer Sizwe Ngema allegedly stabbed fellow metro officer Bianca Khuzwayo to death. His matter is before the court.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial police spokesperson Robert Netshiunda confirmed Monday’s incident.
“A 45-year-old man who allegedly shot and killed his 40-year-old wife shot and injured his 19-year-old son before turning the gun on himself.”
He added that the police had opened a case of murder, attempted murder and an inquest docket.
“When the police arrived at the crime scene on Thokozani Nene Road, the two bodies were found lying on the floor in the property. They were declared deceased at the scene. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this stage.”
A relative of the metro officer, who did not want to be named, said the family were not ready to release the names of the couple to the media.
“We are very shocked because we were not expecting something like this to happen and we do not know what was the cause,” he said.
He added that the injured son was recovering from his injury. “The child had an injury to his arm and was treated and discharged on the same day (Monday).”
The couple are expected to be buried on Saturday.
Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality, Javu Baloyi, said the country had recently seen GBV cases involving police officers.
“The trend that we are seeing in the country where metro police and police officers are involved in gender-based violence is worrying.”
He said there was a need for more counselling programmes to assist officers to deal with psychological and other issues they faced.
“It is clear that they are going through a lot but as the commission we strongly condemn acts of GBV and police are supposed to lead by example,” said Baloyi.