By Staff Reporter
news@alexreporter.co.za
Noxolo Jada had just returned from the bathroom when she was shot in the shoulder, and as she tried to get up to run for her dear life, two more bullets were pumped into her body.
This as tavern patrons were screaming and asking what they had done to be attacked by a group of men armed with AK-47 assault rifles.
Two eyewitnesses who spoke to Sowetan this week told of how they heard gunshots outside the tavern in Kanana, Orkney in the North West, last Friday night.
Noxolo, 22, is among eight people who died. At least 13 others sustained injuries.
Noxolo had a two-year-old child. Her sister, Wendy Jada, who escaped unharmed, said she watched as her sibling was gunned down and recalled how they spent the day running errands and decided to go grab two drinks at the tavern.
They were in the company of Noxolo’s boyfriend, who was also unharmed.
“Around 4pm we bathed and headed to Ha Mdu [tavern] to get two [drinks]. We had a good time and [around 8pm to 9pm], Noxolo decided to go to the loo and left me with her boyfriend.
“Shortly afterwards, we heard gunshots. We saw Noxolo running towards us through the entrance door as we were facing that direction and she was met with a gunshot, The [men first] shot her on the shoulder and as she tried to get up, she was shot again at the back.
“I watched them kill my sister. We [ Wendy and Noxolo’s boyfriend] hid. The men asked where “AbeSotho” were. They were speaking Xhosa. They [suspects] had already shot people who were outside. They also ordered us to lie down and kept shooting,” she said.
Wendy said the whole ordeal lasted for about an hour.
“People kept asking, ‘re entseng?’ (what did we do?), but they kept on shooting.”
Noxolo was a churchgoer and was recently appointed as an usher.
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Sabata Mokgwabone said four suspects were expected to make their second appearance in the local court on Wednesday.
He said an identity parade still needed to be conducted. They have been charged with eight counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
Mokgwabone said two of the accused were found in possession of unlawful live ammunition during their arrest.
“They remain in custody and are likely to face charges relating to contravention of the Immigration Act.”
Another eyewitness, Tshepo Sekoboane, 22, said the person who shot him fired the shot while their eyes were locked. He was shot in the thigh.
“I had hid my upper body with a table as I was on the ground. After being shot I didn’t feel anything. I told the person next to me that I have been shot but he shouldn’t panic as they might [come back and] finish us.
“They kept shooting while demanding cellphones. I told them that I don’t have a phone. Other [suspects] went to the counter and took money while another one fired a shot at the snooker lock and took the R2 coins from it,” he said.
He said the bullet went through his thigh.
The family of Nhlanganiso Yawa, 54, broke down as they spoke of their loss. They said he was a breadwinner and took care of his parents, five siblings, four children and his wife.
“If they wanted to rob them, they could have just robbed them and not kill them,” said Yawa’s sister Ester Mohohlo.
Yawa, a general worker at the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district municipality, was shot while he was with a co-worker and friend, Mojalefa Mosia, who was also killed.
Mosia’s son Thuto Mosekwane, 24, said he woke up to numerous missed calls from his mother on Saturday morning.
“I thought it was a bad joke. After the call I scrolled through WhatsApp statuses and saw the posts about the incident,” he said.
Olga Funda, 28, recalled how she was awakened by heavy knocks and rushed to the crime scene.
Her uncle Faneabeko Funda was killed.
“When we got into the tavern, we found him lying on the ground with three bullets in his body… one between the eyes and one on each side of the shoulder,” she said.
This article was first published by SowetanLIVE.
