By Libuseng Nyaka
QWAQWA – Mandela Park was the scene of a tragic crime after a 37-year old man fatally shot his partner before turning the gun on himself.
The incident resulted in two minor children being left without parents.
This happened on the morning of Tuesday September 26 2023.
Speaking to the media, the family’s spokesperson Mxosheni Gambu, who is also the deceased man’s uncle, said:
“My nephew really made a heart-breaking decision, to kill the mother of his children and then take his own life. As a family we are shocked because we do not know if they were married or they were just co-habiting.
“The sad part is what is going to happen to the children. This was really a tough decision for a man to so easily resot to his gun in conflict.”
According to Mandela Park Community Patrol Forum (CPF) chairperson, Teboho Seobi, this incident really sent shockwaves across the community because this is a very frightening act that took place.
“The father held the family hostage around nine o’ clock on Monday night during an altercation that seems to have lasted throughout the night until this Tuesday morning when we woke up to the sound of gunshots and the realisation that the man had killed the mother of his children and himself,” Seobi said.
As the chairperson of the community’s CPF Seobi says Mandela Park has become a den for criminals where people can easily access unlicensed guns that they get from Lesotho nationals.
He urged families to seek help when there is a conflict in the home so that such situations can be avoided.
According to Sergeant Mahlomola Kareli from the Free State South African Police Service (SAPS), they were alerted to the incident early on Tuesday morning.
“Our hostage negotiation team arrived at the scene and were able to persuade the father to release the two children so they could be given food to eat. After extensive negotiations the father released the children to the SAPS team. That is how they were spared,” he said.
According to police reports, the cause of the conflict that led to the death of the two people is not know but the deceased parents are survived by their minor children who are three years and five years old.
Family members who were at the scene of the crime were in shock and disbelief and they shed tears when the two bodies were carried away in a mortuary van.
