MAN ACCIDENTALLY SHOT AT FUNERAL

NHLANGANO – A local family is mourning a loved one who was accidentally shot by a mourner at a funeral in South Africa.
The shooting reportedly happened at a cemetery near Soweto, outside Johannesburg, last Saturday morning.

The victim was identified as a 37-year-old male resident of Nhlangano, who was based in the neighbouring country.
His name cannot be published since his family was yet to notify his next-of-kin.

This publication understands that the bereaved family was only able to establish that the deceased was attending a funeral of a relative at the densely populated location of Johannesburg, when a mourner started fidgeting with a gun he had recently acquired. Information gathered was that the man was trying to fix the firearm which had not been working properly, when it accidentally went off.

Mourners

A relative, who preferred anonymity, told this publication that they learnt that their family member was among a crowd of mourners at the burial site while proceedings were ongoing. The inconsolable family member said eyewitnesses told them that the man holding the gun did not intend to hurt anyone but was trying to fix a mechanical fault on the firearm.

“They said the South African national was behind my brother when he started fidgeting with the gun. We gathered that no one paid much attention as many people carried firearms in that country and especially because he had also alerted those seated next to him about the gun’s problem,” explained the grieving relative.

It was gathered that after the gun went off, a bullet went straight to the liSwati and he got seriously injured. Reports are that he was immediately whisked to a nearby health facility where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

“We were told that the gun discharged and the bullet pierced through my brother’s body from the back, and he died instantly,” narrated the family member.
It is understood that the owner of the gun handed himself over to the police on the same day. Even though it is understood that the shooting was not intentional, the matter is subject to investigation by the South African Police Services, according to the relatives who travelled to the neighbouring country.

The family members said they were not sure about the exact charges the man was facing in that country. However, experts indicated that the suspect could likely be charged under that country’s firearms control laws and possibly face a murder charge. The relative, who spoke to this publication, said the family was very devastated by what happened.

“Everyone is trying to cope with what happened, it was just a sad situation which happened when nobody had expected,” lamented the relative.
The grieving family member revealed that the family was in the process of repatriating the deceased’s corpse. At the moment, the bereaved family is currently working on documentation to enable the deceased’s body to be repatriated back into the kingdom. The corpse remains kept at a mortuary in Johannesburg, according to a relative.

The burial is expected to take place at the deceased’s parental homestead, which is situated in Nhlangano on Saturday morning.
When approached for comment, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati, said they had not received any reports regarding the incident.

Incident

She said this was probably because the tragic incident happened beyond their jurisdiction. She said the South African Police Service would be best placed to comment on the issue.
This is not an isolated incident as many local citizens have died under unclear circumstances while in the neighbouring country.

Just recently, another family in Nhlangano buried a loved one who died in a shack fire in Diepsloot, also in South Africa.
In this particular incident, the 49-year-old male died when the shack he was sleeping in went up in flames. The shack was completely destroyed in the tragedy.
The victim was working as a migrant textile worker in the neighbouring country.

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