On Friday morning, seven suspects aged between 22 and 38 were arrested in Ezakheni by Ladysmith Detective Services and the Ladysmith Tactical Response Team (TRT) after a business robbery on Thursday morning in which a security guard was killed and others wounded.
A vehicle suspected of having been used in the crime was seized and a revolver believed to have been stolen from one of the security guards was recovered.
Other stolen property, which included cell-phones as well as foreign and South African currency, was also recovered.
The suspects are set to appear in the Ladysmith Magistrate’s Court today (Monday, December 15), facing charges of murder, robbery, attempted murder, assault and possession of an unlicensed firearm.
During the robbery on Thursday, a man entered a shop in Peacetown and opened fire on a security guard working at the shop. The guard was wounded in the hip. A second guard was shot and killed outside the business. He sustained injuries to the chest, head and arm.
The shooter was then joined by five other suspects. Two other people inside the shop, including the owner, were assaulted and injured.
The group robbed the business and the customers of items that included cash and cell-phones, before fleeing in a vehicle.
The security guard who was killed has been identified as 45-year-old Siza Eric Hlubi.
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, commended Ladysmith police for working around the clock to arrest these ruthless criminals. “I am glad that these thugs are behind bars. It is difficult to fathom why they would kill an innocent person in such a callous manner for such meagre pickings. We will ensure they face the full might of the law,” she said.
