Family mourn loss of a loving father in shoot-out

Zimbabwean journalist Godknows Nare was a hard-working and dedicated father‚ says his devastated wife Silibele Khumalo.

Nare‚ 40‚ died in a hail of bullets in an apparent shoot-out with police‚ now being probed by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID)‚ last week near his home in Florida on Johannesburg's West Rand.

The shooting has raised more questions than answers. And it has been devastating for his young family. "It's very difficult. I told the two older kids (aged 10 and six) but I haven't told the little one‚" said Khumalo. "I don’t know if they understand."

She said that her husband loved his family. "He was hard working and dedicated. The only thing he loved more than the church and his job was his family‚" she told TimesLIVE‚ sitting between Nare's mother‚ Bokang Moyo‚ and his sister‚ Patience Maphosa‚ at their home in Florida.

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Nare‚ who has worked as a journalist and fixer for local and international news organisations - including the

SABC's Special Assignment‚ eNCA‚ BBC‚ Al Jazeera‚ and the New York Times - was shot outside his sister's home‚ just a few blocks from his own home.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said that officers responding to reports of a hijacked car‚ spotted a vehicle on the corners of 4th Avenue and Hull Street in Florida. The occupants of the car‚ he said‚ started shooting at officers who returned fire.

"One person was killed and one person was arrested‚" he said. "That's all I can tell you."

However‚ IPID's spokesman Moses Dlamini said that initial reports indicated otherwise. "The allegations were that the police were watching this vehicle which they suspected was stolen‚" he said.

• Robbers escape after shooting policeman in gun battleAn unknown number of bank robbers escaped in three vehicles after a shootout with police on Friday morning in Mpumalanga‚ officials said. 

Initial reports said the police pursued the suspected stolen car and shots were fired from the vehicle. "Police returned fire and one person was killed‚ and we now know that person was Godknows Nare‚" he said.

Dlamini said contrary to initial reports‚ there was no evidence to back up claims that the vehicle occupants had shot first.

"Preliminary investigations indicate that there wasn't any shooting from the car. However‚ all versions must be investigated‚" he said.

Nare's wife and brother‚ Thabiso Mnyandu‚ said they were told that police fired 10 shots at Nare‚ with four hitting him.

"After they shot at his car's wheels‚ he lost control and crashed it. When he got out‚ he had his hands up and he was shot three times‚" said Mnyandu. "That's what we've been told."

Award winning journalist and author Julian Rademeyer‚ who had worked with Nare in the past‚ described him as a fearless and professional journalist.

"I didn’t know Godknows well‚ but I liked him. He was a small‚ wiry man; shy‚ softly-spoken with a gentle sense of humour that could lighten even the darkest of situations‚" Rademeyer wrote.

"Fixers like Godknows take grave risks‚ often with little support. Their work is rarely acknowledged. They remain in the shadows while the journalists and correspondents who use them reap the awards and take the credit‚" he wrote.

TMG Digital/TimesLIVE