The relatives of the assassinated Ratanda spaza shop owner, Veli Ntombela, have expressed disappointment that the police have yet to apprehend the murder suspects.
The grieving family accused the police of not showing care in the manner in which they are investigating the recent spate of targeted murders of spaza shop owners in the township.
The family also alleged that the police were not doing enough to make Ratanda a safe place and put an end to the ongoing killings of local business owners.
Family still traumatised
A family member, who chose to remain anonymous, said Ntombela’s murder has left the family traumatised.
Men who pretended to be customers shot Ntombela several times on Thursday night. They entered the shop and pretended to be buying a pack of cigarettes.
Ntombela is not the first business owner in Ratanda to be killed in similar circumstances since February, with his death bringing the death toll to six.
Bayanda Radebe, the secretary of Mazibuy’ekasi Spaza Shops, confirmed that the killings had been happening since February 9.
Four people, three of them tuck shop owners, have been gunned down in Ratanda, Heidelberg, about 50km southeast of Johannesburg and closer to the Mpumalanga border, over the past month.
Previous shop owners chased out of the township
The other person to be murdered, Happy Nyawuza, was related to one of the tuck shop owners.
The deceased are Mandla Ncoco, Nyawuza, Moeketsi Mollo and Nyawuza’s cousin, Nkosinathi Ngondo.
Some of the businesspeople were part of the Ratanda Spaza Shop Forum, which allocated dozens of shops to themselves and other community members after previous owners were driven out of the township due to tensions in 2023.
Provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo, could only confirm an investigation into Ncoco’s murder.
Ncoco, 55, was allegedly killed by four assailants in his house on February 23. The killing happened while power cuts were under way.
