AN off-duty Zimbabwean soldier was shot dead in cold-blood
at a shopping centre in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, in South Africa on Monday.
The deceased, identified as Phakamile Ncube from Mtshabezi
near Gwanda, had gone to South Africa for shopping, when he was gunned down by
a suspected security guard in Hillbrow.
Zimbabwe Defence Forces spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel
Alphios Makotore yesterday confirmed the incident and said the army would
assist in repatriating his body for burial.
“He was our member and on official leave. He must have,
like any other citizen, gone to that country to visit. We will assist in all
possible ways in his burial,” Makotore said.
South African police spokesperson, Vish Naidoo referred
NewsDay to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate spokesperson, Moses
Dlamini, who declined to comment on the matter.
A close relative said Ncube was gunned down after being in
Johannesburg for a week and was about to travel back home.
“He went into a Discount Foods Shop and bought large
carrier bags known as tshangani bags. A man now known to be a security guard at
the supermarket followed him and placed a gun on the back of his neck and
killed him,” a relative narrated, saying they suspected that the two could have
had an altercation before the incident.
Other sources said the attacker was a robber, who had earlier
tried to rob Ncube inside the shop but failed.
Ncube was reported to have succumbed to excessive bleeding,
as the ambulance only arrived at the scene to pick him up after an hour.
“Had the ambulance arrived earlier, this man could have
been saved,” a close family member, who declined to be named, said. Newsday
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