Ezimfeneni watch member killed while on patrol

The community of Makhaza and all of Khayelitsha have been left reeling in shock after a member of Ezimfeneni Neighbourhood Watch in Enkanini, Monwabisa Mkhutshulwa, was shot and killed while on patrol with fellow members last Friday, January 17.

Khayelitsha sub-district commissioner Brigadier Mnoneli Magobiyane and various stakeholders visited the family of Mr Mkhutshulwa to hold a small prayer session with the family on Monday.

Ezimfeneni Neighbourhood Watch chairperson and family spokesperson, Peter Mofokeng, said he has known and worked with Mr Mkhutshulwa for years.

He said he leaves behind a wife and two children.

He said nine members of the watch had done two rounds of patrols and were heading back home around 11pm when the incident happened.

He said Mr Mkhutshulwa was walking in between the shacks in front of the group. “We bumped into four guys who did not even ask any questions and fired six bullets towards us. They were about 10 metres from us. All of these bullets hit him and he died on the scene. We did not even run away and we thought it was pellet guns.

“After the last shot, he fall down and still we were thinking that it was pellet guns because we know that they carry such guns at times.

“These guys ran away after shooting and when we tried to pick him up he was no longer breathing. They ambushed us. We carry sjamboks which we have bought ourselves.

“His death has left us traumatised and we never thought that someone would attack us for playing a critical role of ensuring that there is peace in our communities.

“He has sacrificed his life for the safety of our communities. This is our first patrol this year. Two years back we encountered a similar situation but those criminals shot in the air,” he said.

Brigadier Magobiyane said they were shocked to learn about the attack as Mr Mkhutshulwa was playing an essential role in protecting our communities.

He said neighbourhood watch members are not armed and only carry torches and wear reflectors bibs.

He said the neighbourhood watch works with sector commanders but sometimes due to a number of sectors, forces commanders do not walk with them when they conduct their patrols.

Khayelitsha sub-district acting chairperson, Funeka Soldaat, said they express their shock and anger on the brutul killing of their member who was murdered wearing his full patrol gear.

Ms Soldaat said his death is a stark reminder of how our patrollers voluntarily risk their lives while on duty daily trying to keep our communities safe from crime.

She said they are reminded that safety structures try their best to reduce crime in our communities with limited resources.

“One killed crime fighter is a serious reversal of the gains that have been made in the recent past to keep our communities in Khayelitsha safe as indicated in the last quarterly statistics.

“We call upon all law enforcement resources to be mobilised to get to the bottom of this cases and brought to book to answer for this heinous crime committed against the crime fighting community in Khayelitsha as a whole.

“This case should be treated with the high level of importance it deserves and elite crime fighting units should involved in this case as an assurance to safety structures that their lives are treated with high importance and for the community to be given confidence that criminals are not in charge of our streets and communities,” she said.