A short drive to a nearby tavern turned into a tragedy when a 29-year-old man was shot and killed in Ntshawini, allegedly by an ex-councillor.

Sphelele Mwandla and his brothers and their friends allegedly drove from Lloyd section to buy drinks at one of the taverns, not knowing that it was to be his last drive.

According to his brother, Syathokoza Mwandla, when they arrived at the tavern one of their friends started a fight with one of the staff members, accusing him of stealing his cell phone some time ago.

“We were a group of six and when the fight started, the tavern owner who is an ex-councillor, intervened and he tried to attack one of the guys with an axe.

“Fortunately, we managed to overpower him and took the axe. We explained to him that we did not want to fight and gave him his axe back and decided to go.

“As we were about to drive off, he came with a gun in his hand and started shooting.

“One of the bullets came through the windscreen and hit my brother.

“If I had been sitting up straight, I think I am the one who would have been shot,” said Syathokoza.

Sphelele was rushed to Stanger Hospital by his friends where he was declared dead.

KwaDukuza police spokesperson constable Sibusiso Khuzwayo confirmed that a Ntshawini business person had been arrested for the murder and had appeared at the KwaDukuza magistrate court last week.