Three people were tragically killed in three separate crime-related incidents over the long weekend. One of the three was a local security officer who was stabbed while trying to apprehend suspects who were breaking into a business premises at the Ladysmith Plaza Centre, near the taxi rank.
The security officer had been patrolling the centre in the early hours of Sunday morning, 20 March, when he noticed a group of men trying to break in. One of the armed men confronted the security officer and stabbed him directly under the arm. The officer retaliated and opened fire upon the fleeing men. One suspect was shot and killed. Police reported that the security officer had then gone to the Ladysmith Police Charge Office to report the shooting. “He was bleeding profusely and was almost unconscious and unable to speak. The ambulance was called and rushed the injured man to the hospital where he later passed away,” said police. A case of murder is being investigated by police, who said that no further arrests have been made. The other suspect fled the scene.
A second murder was also reported in the early hours of Sunday morning when a member of the Umbulwane CPF had been patrolling the Umbulwane area and found an unidentified man lying face-down in a pool of blood. The deceased had been violently stabbed to death. “I got a huge fright when I found the man, thinking that he had just passed out from a night at the local shebeen,” he said. The CPF member called the police station and they responded to the scene. The man’s body was found in a field near houses. Police closed off the area so that further investigation could be done. The motive of the killing is unknown at this stage. No arrests have been made and a case of murder is being investigated.
A third incident had claimed the life of 35-year-old Thandowethu Mdinga who was attacked and stabbed at a local tavern in Umbulwane in the late hours of Saturday evening, 19 March. It is alleged that Mdinga had been out with her friend when she was attacked and stabbed. Her friend had found her injured, outside the premises. She was rushed to hospital but later died from her injuries. Police will be investigating a case of murder and the motive of the killing is unknown at this stage. No arrests have been made.
