Durban — KwaZulu-Natal police are investigating the murder of a 28-year-old Ntuzuma man who was burnt to death after being assaulted and stripped naked in Shakaskraal on Sunday.
Police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the man was attacked by unknown perpetrators.
“Umhlali police are investigating a murder case after a man was burnt to death on July 31 in Shakaskraal. The motive for the killing is unknown,” he said.
According to Ngcobo’s family, on Sunday he had gone to the shops with another man who lived close to where he was renting a home.
Ngcobo had been living in Umhlali for less than a week after moving there to be closer to his place of employment in Ballito.
The family said it is believed that while at the shop there was an altercation between local youngsters and Ngcobo and his neighbour.
In the heat of the altercation, Ngcobo’s neighbour allegedly fired a warning shot into the air and Ngcobo was allegedly assaulted, while the neighbour managed to escape.
The family said that their son was stripped naked after being assaulted and set alight.
From what the family knows, the man who had been with Ngcobo carried a firearm with him as the area was not safe.
Ngcobo’s relative, Pinky Ngcobo, said the family still did not know what the altercation that led to Ngcobo’s brutal and senseless murder had been about.
“Mfana was not a criminal, he was a decent law-abiding citizen. He matriculated from Durban High School and earned a decent living. Yes, he drank, but when we went to the place he was renting, it was clean, spotless, with no sign that they had been drinking or partying there, so he was killed sober. I had not healed from losing my son and now this brutal, barbaric murder happens in our family,” said Pinky.
The Daily News had previously reported on Pinky’s baby, Nkanyezi, who died from injuries she believes he sustained while at a crèche in KwaMashu.
“I haven’t yet seen justice for my son, it would be nice for the police to do things differently this time around, for them to find Mfana’s killers and arrest them and allow us as a family to see justice served. This is not something that happened in a dark corner where no one was around, there were people there and people know something.”
A resident, who did not want to be named fearing for their safety, said what was being said in the community was that a “phara” (hoodlum) was beaten and killed.
The man who had been with Ngcobo at the time has since fled the area, allegedly fearing for his life.
Another observer, who also did not want to be named, confirmed that Ngcobo’s neighbour had fled the area and was in hiding because those who had “done this to Mfana said they would get him”.
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