Funeral parlour owners gunned down

The husband and wife owners of a funeral parlour were gunned down early on Wednesday by three men who are believed to have visited their Umlazi business earlier in the week, pretending to be customers.

Mzonjani Isaac Chiliza, 61, who is also a taxi owner, and his wife, Makhosi Msweli-Chiliza, in her 50s, were shot moments after they opened their Nikithemba Funeral Services at a small business complex.

The couple are former police officers who married earlier this year.

Mandisi Mteyisi, Chiliza’s son, said he and an employee, Sifiso Ntshangase, arrived at the small business complex in a bakkie just after 8am.

“As soon as I parked the bakkie, I noticed a white (Toyota) Yaris parked nearby,” Mteyisi said, referring to the vehicle whose occupants were allegedly at the funeral parlour on Tuesday to ask for a quotation to bury their loved one.

“I then walked to the funeral parlour,” he said.

As Mteyisi, 32, walked to the parlour, Ntshangase approached the occupants of the Yaris to inform them the funeral parlour was still closed.

“I informed them they should wait a bit because we were waiting for someone with the keys. Mother (Msweli-Chiliza) then arrived,” Ntshangase said.

As soon as the parlour opened, Ntshangase said one of the Yaris’s occupants came and spoke to Msweli-Chiliza.

The man allegedly told her that they would go to Ndwedwe to meet the family regarding the funeral preparations and return for the collection of the deceased’s body at Prince Mshiyeni Hospital, he said.

It was apparently at this point that Mzonjani Isaac Chiliza went inside the parlour and the man walked away.

“The two (Ntshangase and Mteyisi) of us went to the car to pick up our lunch boxes. As we got to the car, we heard gunfire and mom screaming,” Ntshangase said.

“We ran away fearing for our lives.”

Mteyisi said when they walked to their car to fetch their lunch they had walked past the other two occupants of the Yaris, who were walking towards the parlour.

Although his father was a taxi owner, Mteyisi said he did not think it had anything to do with taxi violence.

Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane confirmed the incident.

“The motive for the killing is unknown at this stage. Two cases of murder were opened at Umlazi SAPS for investigation and no arrests have been made,” Zwane said. – Daily News