"Sipho! Run!" The words had barely been uttered when two shots rang out at the Umlazi Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning. Sipho Ndovela collapsed, shot execution-style in the back of the head and then in the chest while making a phone call.Ndovela's friend, whose shouted warning had come too late, stood frozen as people rushed to escape the court buildings.story_article_left1The man, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals, did not want to pick up Ndovela's cellphone: his friend had been speaking to his wife, who must have heard the shots.Ndovela was the eighth casualty of violence linked to Glebelands Hostel in Umlazi, Durban, this year - and the 23rd since the beginning of last year.Just before being gunned down, the father of seven had appeared in court on charges of attempted murder. The case was adjourned.But he was due to testify on Thursday as the state's key witness in the trial of hostel resident Bongani Hlophe, who is accused of shooting Fikile Siyephu, also from Glebelands.The public protector, the South African Human Rights Commission and the government have all been asked to investigate the violence.Ndovela, who had received two death threats, was escorted to and from court by police. But his friend claimed that the police also ran for the exit instead of protecting Ndovela.KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane responded: "I cannot say anything about that except that we will look into that matter."The assassin joined everyone else fleeing the scene, before escaping in a white getaway car.block_quotes_start We have buried so many people. Who is going to be next? That's what people are asking block_quotes_endAnother police spokesman, Colonel Jay Naicker, said Ndovela had spurned an offer to be placed in witness protection.However, police still escorted Ndovela from home to the court and back again."We told him to stay in the court ... and to call us and we would escort him back home. Apparently he decided to go outside to make a phone call, and that's when he was attacked," said Naicker.Vusi Zweni, chairman of the Ubunye bama Hostela ("unity of the hostels") organisation, said many residents of Glebelands were angry, claiming Ndovela could have survived if his police handlers had been closer to him."How can you trust the law? No one will be a witness any more," said Zweni.Residents said the clashes were over the lucrative "room control" scam - where they are forced to pay bribes of between R20 and R50 a month. The extortionists can earn as much as R12500 from the 250 people living in the affected hostel blocks.mini_story_image_hright1The latest victim of the turf war is a 30 year-old man who was shot and killed at Glebelands on Friday night."We have buried so many people. Who is going to be next? That's what people are asking," said Zweni.Ndovela is being buried this weekend in his hometown of Bizana in the Eastern Cape. His family could not be reached for comment.Hostels throughout South Africa are known to be centres of lawlessness. The government's controversial Operation Fiyela, launched in the wake of xenophobic violence and intended to get rid of criminal elements, was largely focused on hostels.KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni insisted police were doing everything they could to stem the murders.But Zweni is convinced Ndovela's assassination will not be the last in Glebelands. "There will be more killings," he said. Listen to the Story-Behind-The-Story here:nbsp;..