BEFORE the officer was shot dead by her former boyfriend, bloodcurdling screams were heard by witnesses in Oslo Beach, just after 10pm last Thursday evening.
Traffic officer, Sthembile Ngqulunga (37) from the Road Traffic Inspectorate was shot dead by Philani Dlamini (35), before he turned the gun on himself. Dlamini was a policeman from Pietermaritzburg.
It’s believed that a week prior to the shooting, Ms Ngqulunga had a restraining order issued against Dlamini.
It’s also believed that Dlamini was making life difficult for her, by harassing her, her colleagues and even her family.
According to an eyewitness, Ms Ngqulunga, dressed in full uniform, arrived home from work that fateful evening. “She greeted me and was her usual sparkly self; she had no idea what was going to happen to her next.”
Ms Ngqulunga, carrying some groceries, then walked up the stairs to her flat, and was surprisingly met by Mr Dlamini, who grabbed her. Neighbours then heard screaming and shouting.
Another neighbour reportedly shouted at him, and she was able to escape, and run down to the parking area, followed closely by an enraged Dlamini.
The witness thought Ms Ngqulunga was being attacked by a burglar. She said she looked out her window, and saw Ms Ngqulunga running around the parked cars, begging Dlamini, who was wielding a gun, not to shoot her.
At one stage, the eyewitness said Ms Ngqulunga even got onto her knees and begged him not to do it.
The witness then saw him point the gun at her, and shoot her at close range, three times. She died on the scene.
By this time, her neighbour had run into her bedroom, and was phoning for help. The fourth bullet fired by Dlamini was used to take his own life.
“My brain was frozen until the third shot. I was so scared, there are no words to describe how frightened I felt. I was shaking,” she said. “Everything happened in slow motion,” she added.
According to eyewitnesses, Dlamini had parked his car at a nearby garage and had walked to her house. He had also bought a new pair of pliers, and had proceeded to cut through the small side gate, next to her flat. It was there he supposedly waited for her to arrive home.
“She never knew she was coming home to her last moments on earth,” said a neighbour.
“He came there with one thing on his mind, and that was that he was going to take both her life and his life,” she said.
She said Ms Ngqulunga didn’t deserve to die the way she did, and her life needed to be celebrated, as she was a lovely person with a good heart, always ready to share a joke.
Her sister, Slindile, said her death had come as a shock, and she would be deeply missed. She said her sister was a good, kind and friendly person.
Ms Ngqulunga leaves behind a daughter (18) and a son (4).
KwaZulu-Natal Transport MEC Willies Mchunu, said he was saddened by the ‘horrific’ manner in which the woman was killed.
Port Shepstone police have opened both a murder and an inquest docket.
