THURSDAY, 4.00PM
POLICE rushed reinforcements to the Richmond area in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday after a group of youths was attacked on Wednesday night. After the attack, gunfire was heard throughout the area until Thursday morning.
Police and army sources said gunfire was heard early on Thursday morning in Isimozomeni, where five African National Congress members, two of them newly elected town councillors, were murdered in July.
On Wednesday night, a youth was shot dead and five others were wounded at Indaleni. Security force reports revealed 17-year-old Linda Nkomo was shot dead and Bhakutha Dlamini, 18, was wounded in the right hand and abdomen, Bheki Ndlovu, 17, was wounded in an arm and the abdomen, and Thembinkosi Mbeje, 17, was wounded in the left leg. Mlungisi Thiya, 20, and Bonginkosi Ngcobo, 20, suffered shrapnel wounds in the attack. It appears the victims, believed to be ANC members, were in a house in Indaleni’s Cuba section when they were attacked at about 8.45pm.
Fourteen spent R4 and R5 rifle cartridges and 13 9mm pistol cartridges were found at the scene.
Police have deployed helicopters in the area in an attempt to track down the gunmen.
THURSDAY, 5.30PM
AT least one man was wounded in sporadic gunfire at Isimozomeni in the Richmond area on Thursday morning. The man was found with a bullet wound to the stomach after police heard automatic gunfire early on Thursday. He was admitted to the Edendale Hospital near Pietermaritzburg.
Several shooting incidents occurred in the Isimozomeni area during the course of Thursday morning. At least 11 people have been killed in incidents of violence in areas surrounding Richmond since May.