Suspect in family massacre is shot dead

A man said to be one of the gunmen in last week's massacre at Shongweni in KwaZulu-Natal was shot dead by police yesterday.

Brothers Philani "Nkalakatha" Nxele and Khetha "Bhejane" Nxele were named on Saturday as two of four suspects responsible for killing six people on Tuesday.

Durban organised crime unit head Major-General Johan Booysen said yesterday that Philani Nxele was killed during a shoot-out with police.

He said police were tipped off by a member of the public who had seen Nxele in a car with three other occupants.

"Upon receiving the information, the police tracked the car to the Oaklands area. They stopped the suspects but the men managed to flee on foot," he said.

Officers of the Durban south dog unit tracked the four men.

"Nxele hid in the grass and fired a shot at a police officer. The police returned fire and he was killed," Booysen said.

The police officer was shot in a leg. Two other suspects were arrested.

"At this stage we cannot say whether these two were part of the gang that killed in Shongweni, but they have been taken in for questioning," Booysen said.

After community safety and liaison MEC Willies Mchunu told at least 3000 people at the funeral of the six victims yesterday that police were looking for the Nxele brothers, several community members claimed that the pair was driven out of the area because they were terrorising locals.

However, police are still non-committal on a motive for the attack. "It could be vengeance. It could be robbery. We are investigating," Booysen said.

Many who attended the funeral had known Ngenzeni Hlongwane, 40, and her daughter, Nokhuthula Zulu, 22, her sons, Thabani, 18, and Nthobisi, 8, and two-year-old grandson Talente.

The sixth victim cannot be named to protect the identity of his girlfriend's 13-year-old sister, who was raped during the attack.

Booysen said police were trying to establish if the bloodbath was linked to another killing of a family of four in neighbouring Itshelimnyama 48 hours later.