Spaza horror: Family of killed woman speaks!

THE family of a woman who was shot and killed while coming back from a spaza shop in a Cape Town kasi on Sunday, 4 August, is still devastated.

They recently spoke to Daily Sun about the ordeal that left them shocked.

What happened

Simamkele Dzim (27) was walking from the spaza shop along Miller Street opposite the Gugulethu graveyard when two armed men disembarked from a Toyota Avanza, firing shots and killing her in front of the family's home gate. The incident happened at about 10am.

Simamkele's gogo, Nkasi Petros (73), said she heard gunshots and thought the shooting was in her yard.

"The gunshots went on for just a minute, and the next thing, someone got inside the house running, telling me that Simamkele had been shot.

"At first, the person said she was shot in the leg. They were going to rush her to the clinic. A few minutes later, another person came in and said Simamkele had died, and her body was just outside in front of my yard," said gogo Nkasi.

The gogo said she's still heartbroken because she was the only adult she lived with.

She said Simamkele never gave her problems, and she's still shocked that someone could kill her granddaughter in cold blood just like that.

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Witnesses speak

The EPWP workers cleaning the streets told Daily Sun that they saw the woman walking from the spaza shop from the street behind her home.

"We didn't bother, but the next thing we heard gunshots from the direction she was. When we looked, two men holding firearms were running back to a Toyota Avanza on the road," she said.

The suspects drove towards Gugulethu direction at high speed.

A community leader from the area, Lumkile Msila, said they were shocked by the incident.

He said what shocked him the most was that the victim was a woman.

"Crime is high in our area, and a lot of people have been shot in our kasi. In the past two weeks alone, three young men were shot and killed.

"One of them was killed in my street last week. How young people are being killed or killing each other is worrisome. Now even young women are being killed, and then you wonder what our kasi has become," said Msila.

He said it's important that when people have disagreements, they must speak about them or even approach elders to intervene.

Investigation underway

Police spokesman Sergeant Wesley Twigg confirmed the incident.

"The circumstances surrounding a shooting incident on Sunday morning, 4 August 2024, in NY 5, Gugulethu, in which a 27-year-old female was shot and fatally wounded, are under investigation. According to reports, police members attended to a complaint of a shooting, and upon arrival on the scene, they found the victim with gunshot wounds to her body.

"The victim was declared dead on the scene by paramedics. It's alleged that two unknown suspects in a Toyota Avanza approached and shot the victim before fleeing the scene. A murder case was registered for investigation," said Twigg.

Anyone with any information about this shooting incident should call CrimeStop on 08600 10111.