The Mona family is caught between a rock and a hard place as they struggle to put funeral arrangements together for a deceased relative.
Neliswa Mona said the family is unsure of how to progress with funeral plans for a cousin, Vuyokazi Lumani. The 28-year-old from Gugulethu was shot and killed in the shack of her brother, Siyabulela Lumani, on Thursday 19 October in Section 5 informal settlement, KTC. The pair was sleeping with two other people in the shack when the incident occurred.
Mona, whose shack is a few metres away from Siyabulela’s, said the incident occurred around 02:00. “There were four people in the shack – Vuyokazi, Siyabulela, Anathi (Siyabulela’s friend) and Abongile (Vuyokazi’s boyfriend),” Mona related. “We heard gunshots and someone in the shack was screaming.” She said Vuyokazi was shot in the head and died on the scene, while Anathi was shot in the left arm and left leg and taken to hospital.
“They were all using drugs. They used the shack as a place to smoke drugs. When we arrived at the scene the deceased was on the floor next to the bed. The injured one was injured was bleeding profusely. Vuyokazi’s boyfriend and Siyabulela escaped unharmed.” She said there was a plan to destroy the shack, but the go-ahead from the family was still forthcoming. “I think it was in 2016 that a friend of Siyabulela was stabbed to death in the same shack.”
Mona said Vuyokazi’s family’s plan to bury her can happen only if they get got support because she had no funeral cover.
Gugulethu police acting commander Col Cyril Nkuna confirmed three males were asleep when the door was kicked open by two males, who demanded a firearm, cash and cellphones. “The suspects searched Anathi and one armed with a firearm fired shots and a bullet hit the deceased and killed her immediately,” he said. “The second victim was hit in the leg and was transferred to Heideveld Hospital in Heideveld.”
A case of murder and attempted murder was opened. The suspects were still unknown. Vuyokazi leaves two children, aged four and 10.