Graphic content warning: Video may upset sensitive viewers.

A dramatic video circulating on social media, which appears to show a woman allegedly assaulting a man with an AK-47 rifle shortly after allegedly shooting him, led to her arrest yesterday.

The footage captures the woman towering over the man, who was lying on the ground, as she appears to kick him and hit him with a rifle.

The incident reportedly occurred on Monday in Azalea, Pietermaritzburg.

According to a witness who spoke to The Witness on condition of anonymity, the woman later followed the injured man – identified as her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child – to the hospital, allegedly intending to ‘finish him off’.

Sources close to the investigation revealed that the firearm used in the assault belonged to the woman’s current partner, a security guard.

It is alleged that after a heated argument with her ex-boyfriend, the woman drove to KwaPata, retrieved the AK-47 from her current partner’s safe, and returned to Azalea, where she allegedly shot the man multiple times.

A resident who witnessed the attack said: “The woman came out of nowhere carrying a gun. She argued with the man, who was walking with another woman, and then shot him multiple times. He managed to escape despite his injuries.”

Ward councillor Themba Ngubane said the argument stemmed from issues involving the couple’s child.

“The woman accused the man of neglecting their child while providing for his child with his current girlfriend. When I visited the victim in the hospital, he was in pain but explained that he was simply walking with his girlfriend when his ex-girlfriend attacked him,” said Ngubane.

Ngubane condemned the violent act and called for calm in his ward, stating that crime in Azalea had subsided significantly since its peak in 2020.

A multidisciplinary task team linked to Aphiwe Protection Services apprehended the woman and handed her over to the police.

The team was able to trace the rifle, confirming it was registered.

uMgungundlovu police spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala confirmed the incident and said the suspect remains in custody at Plessislaer Police Station.

A video has been circulating on social media of a woman holding what is believed to be an AK-47 as she towers over a man lying on the ground on a street in Azalea in #Pietermaritzburg this week.
The woman can also be seen kicking and beating the man with the weapon after she… pic.twitter.com/oYoHy3vhOI

— The Witness (@WitnessKZN) January 28, 2025