By Everson Luhanga
Mandla Xulu went missing without a trace on Wednesday morning. He left his wife at home and didn’t tell her where he was going.
After a fruitless search, Mandla’s brother, Bubula Xulu, went to Hillbrow Police Station. He expected to report him missing. Instead, officers led him to his brother’s lifeless body.
Mandla had rushed into the charge office at about 11am, shouting that people were after him and he needed the police to help him.
The 52-year-old man was hysterical and couldn’t be reasoned with.
But before the officers at hand could stop him, he pulled a gun from his holster, pointed it at his body and pulled the trigger.
Bubula spoke to Scrolla.Africa outside the police station.
“I came to the police station not to find my brother dead. But I was shocked when police officials took me inside the station to check if the man who had killed himself was the one I was looking for,” he said.
“My brother was in a pool of blood.”
Bubula said he didn’t believe that anyone was after Mandla. He had seen his brother display this kind of unstable behaviour before.
Bubula said his brother had shown similar signs of mental illness some years back, believing people were out to get him. But he said he had been healed after they visited a traditional healer.
“We were worried when we couldn’t trace him this morning,” said Bubula.
Bubula said Mandla had been working as a security guard at one of the shops in Hillbrow.
Gauteng provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo said police have opened an inquest docket for investigation after a member of the community allegedly shot himself inside the Client Service Centre at Hillbrow Police Station.
“The deceased entered the police station and informed the police officers that he could see and hear people chasing after him.
“He suddenly pulled out a firearm from his holster and shot himself in the upper body. He was certified dead at the scene,” said Masondo.
Masondo said preliminary investigation revealed that the firearm was licensed to the deceased.
Police officers and members of the community who witnessed the shooting are receiving counselling.
A few hours after Mandla shot himself, the mortuary van arrived and picked up his body.
Pictured above: Bubula Xulu stands outside Hillbrow Police Station, where his brother Mandla ended his own life just hours before
Image source: Everson Luhanga
