The family of an Umlazi moneylender and stokvel member say she was gunned down because of a soured deal or loan.
|||Durban - The family of an Umlazi moneylender and stokvel member believe she was gunned down because of a soured deal or loan.
Gugu Hlongwane died of multiple gunshot wounds after an unknown man fired several rounds at her through the bedroom window of her house in G Section on Sunday evening, her family told the Daily News.
“She died for her money,” her cousin, who did not want to be named, said on Monday.
The 38-year-old mother of three made a living selling clothes, sometimes on credit. She was part of a stokvel which lent money and also lent her own money.
“The shooter was a young man; we think he was sent by someone who either owed her money and did not want to pay, or who was struggling to pay back,” said a cousin, in whose arms she died.
“I found her (Hlongwane) on the floor of her bedroom, blood still pouring out of her, making her wig stick to the tiles,” said the cousin.
He administered CPR as she heaved for breath.
“As I pumped her chest, blood shot out of her nose. I saw that there was a hole in her chest and what looked like a bone sticking out of her neck. My hands were bloody; there was so much blood I could not see what I was doing. I was worried I was hurting her more.”
“She then opened her eyes really wide. I knew she was gone but wanted to continue no matter what. I could not give up” he said.
The cousin had run to Hlongwane’s house after hearing she was in trouble. “We were told someone wanted to shoot her, not that she had already been shot,” he said.
Hlongwane had been in her bedroom, talking to a neighbour in the early evening.
The cousin said six spent cartridges were found near the window and he was told by paramedics that four bullets had hit her from behind.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane could not confirm these details, but said a case of murder was being investigated by the Umlazi police.
The victim’s son, Philani Hlongwane, 20, was putting a relative’s child to bed in another bedroom when he heard the shots.
“There were a lot of gunshots, in quick succession, I don’t remember how many, but there were a lot,” he said.
He ran to his mother’s room and found her lying on the floor, her pyjamas soaked in blood around the chest area.
“I pulled her by her arms, trying to get her up. Her eyes were open, but she did not respond,” said a tearful Hlongwane.
Philani’s 16-year-old sister, who was cooking, and their brother, 13, who was watching television at the time, had also run to see what was happening before the neighbour gathered them to take refuge on the young girl’s bedroom floor. “They were crying and confused,” said Philani.
The neighbour, who was unharmed, phoned a friend to alert the police and ambulance. The neighbour also hurried to the Hlongwane family’s home and raised the alarm.
Daily News