While initial reports regarding the horror shooting at the Ezakheni Mall on Friday evening indicated that it was an attempted hijacking gone wrong, it is now almost 90% certain that the shooting was in fact a ‘hit’. The 4 occupants of the car (incorrectly stated by us in our previous update as 5 occupants) were shot in an almost military style hit. Nothing was taken in the shooting and it appears that the gunmen intended to kill everyone in the car.

Three of the occupants died at the scene, while another (believed to be the driver) was rushed to hospital and was being kept alive on a ventilator. He has since died.

It is believed that a married couple and a brother and sister were leaving the Roots Butchery (where they worked) at the Ezakheni Mall.  The car they were travelling in was ambushed within sight of the mall.

Cars that left only minutes earlier did not report any rocks in the road. However, when the butchery staff left their workplace to head home, it appears that the soon-to-be-killers rolled rocks across the road.

The victims stopped their car to remove the rocks. As the driver got out, an Isuzu bakkie pulled up next to them and gunmen opened fire without warning. They shot at the driver and at the still-seated occupants. The driver collapsed and it is believed that the killers thought he was dead.

It is unknown why they were targeted, as robbery appears not to have been a motive.

9mm shell casings were found at the scene.

The married couple are survived by two children, and both the brother and sister leave behind two children each, including a two-year-old and a 4-month-old baby.