The Provincial Commissioner of the South African Police Service in Mpumalanga, Lieutenant General Mondli Zuma, has strongly condemned an incident where a 30-year-old man allegedly shot and killed his mother, aged 59 at Kabokweni outside Nelspruit, on Wednesday, 10 June 2020.
According to the report, on that day, the man, his wife and another woman believed to be his friend, had a heated argument. The argument between the three escalated and the man’s mother, who was in another room with her other children heard the commotion and sought to intervene. She then tried to calm the situation however, her son who had a firearm on him, fired a shot which struck his mother.
Out of shock, the victim’s daughter quickly went out of the house to find out what was happening and she found her mom lying on the ground. The victim was immediately rushed to the hospital but sadly, she was certified dead upon arrival.
The matter was then reported to police who immediately opened a case of murder. Thorough investigation into the matter, it came forth that the suspect involved was the victim’s son. On Thursday, 11 June 2020, police carried out a search for the suspect and found him in possession of an unlicensed firearm as well as ammunition. Police further questioned him about the events on that fateful day but he failed to give clear answers and was immediately arrested.
The suspect is expected to appear at the Kabokweni Magistrate’s Court on Monday, 15 June 2020, on charges of murder, possession of a firearm and ammunition without a license as well as defeating the ends of justice.
General Zuma has in the strongest terms condemned the tragic shooting incident where a mother was allegedly shot and killed by her own son. “The issue of proliferation of firearms remains a concern factor as it has devastating effects and we encourage members of the public to report anyone who is unlawfully in possession of a firearm and/or ammunition regardless of whether you are related to the person or not. In order for a person to possess a firearm, they must have a valid license. As from 1 November last year, the Police Minister General Bheki Cele conducted a Firearm Amnesty Project where members of the public were encouraged to bring forth firearms to their nearest police stations. This project is aimed at eliminating illegal firearms from the society because we do recover those illegal firearms when conducting operations. As police management, after realising that firearms are increasingly used in violent crimes where in most incidents victims lose their lives, the Minister came up with a plan that seeks to get rid of illegal firearms which are circulating in our communities, hence we embarked on this project. I would like to applaud police for their efforts. I have also ordered the detectives to determine whether the confiscated firearm was not used to commit other crimes,“ said General Zuma.
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