Everson Luhanga
Seven people have been arrested in connection with shootings at funerals in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal over the weekend.
Four arrests were made in KwaZulu-Natal and three in Gauteng, where one of the suspects claimed he works for the traffic department. Police later confirmed that a gun used in the shooting belonged to the traffic department.
The Gauteng arrests took place at the funeral of the late Hector Vintos Buthelezi – the Soweto TikTok sensation, also known as DJ Vintos – who was gunned down last Tuesday.
Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s (JMPD) spokesperson Xolani Fihla confirmed that three male suspects were arrested for possession of unlicensed firearms.
Fihla said JMPD and Sophiatown SAPS undercover officers had been patrolling Westpark Cemetery, as it was a high profile funeral.
“Due to the nature and situation of the funeral, there was shooting inside the cemetery. Undercover officers observed and identified the perpetrators,” Fihla said.
They were followed, stopped and searched, and three firearms were recovered. The suspects will likely appear at the Sophiatown Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday 22 March 2022.
The Westpark shooting is the latest in a string of shooting incidents that have taken place at the cemetery. Last year a pensioner was hit by a stray bullet after people attending a funeral shot into the air.
In a separate incident in KZN, police were monitoring a funeral in the Santombe area.
KZN provincial police spokesperson Colonel Thembeka Mbele said police heard gunshots being fired at the venue where the funeral was held.
“Police swiftly identified the suspects and placed them under arrest,” Colonel Mbele said.
She said the four suspects were charged for unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition as well as discharging a firearm in a public space. All the arrested suspects are from the Eastern Cape and were attending the funeral of a man shot and killed in Umtata.
