Man killed in funeral shootout

2008-08-29 12:39

Durban - Eight people were arrested at a funeral after a shootout with police, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Friday.

One of them died from his wounds on Friday morning, said spokesperson Captain Jabulani Mdletshe.

Police from KwaMsane and the police's National Intervention Unit had been patrolling the Ezimambeni area near the Umfolozi Game Reserve, about 20km north west of Mtubatuba, on Thursday afternoon when they noticed a number of armed men among mourners at a funeral.

When police approached the armed men fled into the bush and opened fire on the approaching officers, leaving mourners scrambling for cover.

One of the armed men was fatally wounded, having been shot in both legs and the buttocks. He was taken to Hlabisa Provincial hospital under police guard but died early on Friday morning.

Police arrested another seven men and recovered three 9mm handguns, an R1 assault rifle, a .303 rifle and more than 100 rounds of ammunition.

Mdletshe said the man whose funeral it was had been shot along with a friend about two weeks ago, in an ongoing clash between two clans.

The two - the Machibini and the Esimyembeni clans - have been at loggerheads since last November in an apparent dispute over another funeral.

"I don't want to call it a faction fight, but it seems the one clan was aggrieved that they were not welcomed at a funeral then (in November). There has been no big confrontation but a tit-for-tat thing," said Mdletshe.

He said police have been attempting to broker a peace between the two groups, but was not sure how welcome police would be at the next meeting, following the arrests. The seven had been charged with attempted murder and the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

- SAPA