INLSA
Police prepare to take away a man arrested after a shoot-out in Wentworth, Durban. Picture: Bongani Mbatha
Wendy Jasson da Costa
THE close proximity of Wentworth Hospital was insufficient to save the life of a police officer wounded in a shoot-out with suspected robbers just outside the facility yesterday morning.
One of the alleged robbers was killed in the incident.
Brighton Beach Constable Njabula Sikhakhane, 35, and his partner had been patrolling Wentworth when they were told about a robbery in the area and how the thieves had got away.
Police said three men had robbed staff and customers of a shop in Voortrekker Road at gunpoint, fleeing with cash and cellphones. They then got into a taxi to escape the crime scene.
Colonel Jay Naicker said Sikhakhane and his partner followed the route the taxi had taken and saw the vehicle at the entrance of Wentworth Hospital.
“The officers stopped the taxi and asked the suspects to surrender. One of the men was armed and opened fire, hitting one (Sikhakhane) in the neck.”
Naicker said Sikhakhane’s partner returned fire, killing one man, and called for assistance.
He said a second suspect was arrested, while the third fled.
Sikhakhane was taken to the hospital, where he died a short while later.
The taxi driver, who refused to be named, said he had had a “strange” feeling when the men got into the vehicle shortly before the shoot-out because they had looked tense and worried.
“I asked them why they looked so scared, so tired, but they just got angry,” he said
His conductor, Lucky Gumede, said that when they reached Wentworth Hospital in search of more passengers, the men had offered to pay the R120 fare for a full taxi load if the driver did not stop and drove straight to the Durban city centre instead.
However, the driver refused and Gumede was standing outside the vehicle, looking for more passengers, when the police arrived, and he ducked for cover when the shooting began.
Describing the robbery which led to the shooting, witnesses said three men walked into the shop five minutes after it had opened, posing as customers.
One approached a cashier as if to pay for a pair of infant’s takkies, but reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun.
One of his accomplices was positioned at the shop’s entrance while the third went to the back of the shop, where he made the shop’s staff and customers lie down on the floor.
After gathering what they intended taking, the men left the shop and boarded the taxi.
Naicker said two guns recovered at the scene would be sent for forensic testing.
He said the man who had been arrested would be charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances and would appear in court soon.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni sent her condolences to Sikhakhane’s family and said the police service would not be deterred “by ruthless criminals who kill our members in the execution of their duties”.
Naicker said: “As much as we lost a member in the fight against crime, his death will not be in vain.
“We are more determined than ever before and we are geared to respond to any criminal threats during this festive season.”
