A one year-old-boy and 16-year-old girl had their mother violently ripped away from them after gunmen entered their Cornubia home and fatally shot her in the bathroom on Wednesday, 30 October.
Reaction Unit South Africa (RUSA) received the call for assistance from a neighbour who heard two gunshots. Paramedics and reaction officers were dispatched to the scene and upon arrival interviewed the 16-year-old who found her mother in the bathroom bleeding from a gunshot wound to the head.
Spokesperson for RUSA, Prem Balram said: “Reaction officers entered the home and found the woman lying face up in a ground floor bathroom. Paramedics declared her deceased at the scene. The woman suffered an entry/exit wound to her eye.”
When the elder child was interviewed, she informed reaction officer that she returned home from school and was handed the door key through the window because her mother was entering the bathroom. She then opened the door and two unknown men entered the home with her. Balram said: “Both produced firearms and one suspect escorted her and her one year old brother upstairs. She was asked not to speak or alert her mother. The second suspect remained downstairs. A short while later she heard two gunshots and the men left immediately. The child ran downstairs and found her mother bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to the head.”
The incident garnered a lot of attention on social media with many expressing sympathy for the children. One Facebook commenter, Charlene Chetty Reddy said: “This is so heart-breaking. My hearts bleeds for these kids. Now they have to grow up without their mum because of some ruthless people. Enough is enough now, we have to start fighting back against the crime in this country.” Another commenter, Sthembile Nkule said:” Those poor children, to be so young and to experience that kind of trauma. This world is so cruel.”
