The 36-year-old provincial police admin clerk who was shot and killed by two robbers along the R40 near Barberton on the afternoon of October 26, has officially been identified as Welcome Ntimba.

A provincial police spokesperson, Captain Maginseni Nkosi, told Lowvelder that the suspects who had shot and killed Ntimba have not yet been arrested, and the investigation into his murder is still ongoing.

Ntimba was about to drive himself and two of his colleagues from Mbombela to Barberton when they picked up two men needing a lift near Westend Shopping Centre.

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Another provincial police spokesperson, Colonel Donald Mdhluli, had previously told Lowvelder that the car was on the R40 nearing the Kaapsehoop turn-off when the two suspects asked to be let out.

He said that as he slowed the car, one of his colleagues who was sitting in the front passenger seat, saw one of the suspects pull out a firearm. The colleague managed to jump out of the car to avoid being shot, sustaining minor injuries in the process, however, Ntimba was shot in the upper body and died.

Mdhluli said the second suspect also reportedly had a firearm. He said they robbed Ntimba’s colleagues’ cellphones and fled the scene on foot, when they saw Ntimba’s colleague who had jumped from the vehicle had a gun and began firing at the robbers.

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The colleague who had been seated in the back with the suspects was unharmed.

A case of murder and robbery was opened following the incident.