Durban — Two suspects, a shooter and a spotter, have been arrested three months after a teacher was gunned down at a Durban school. An inmate, is believed to be the mastermind behind the murder.
Dudu Khumalo, 46, was killed on July 29, inside Phikiswayo Primary School in Ntuzuma.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said that when Khumalo was murdered, a man entered the school premises and requested to see her. The suspect went straight to Khumalo and shot her multiple times and fled from the scene. Khumalo was declared dead at the scene.
“After police established she could have been assassinated because she was a witness on a matter concerning an inmate at the Westville prison, the matter was handed over to the Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes unit,” Netshiunda said.
Netshiunda said detectives from the unit arrested two suspects, aged 36 and 41, who have been positively linked with the murder.
“Police have thus far managed to connect the inmate as the mastermind for the murder, and two other people; the actual shooter and the one who played the role of a spotter, were arrested on Thursday, October 24, 2024,” Netshiunda explained.
“Investigations continued and on Friday, October 25, 2024, a firearm believed to have been used to kill the teacher was found at the residential premises of the suspected trigger-puller. The jacket which he was wearing during the commission of the crime was also found,” he said.
“Preliminary investigations have revealed that the firearm was stolen from its licensed owner during a robbery at Sherwood in Sydenham in April 2023.”
Netshiunda said the suspects will appear in the Ntuzuma Magistrate’s Court on Monday, October 28, 2024, on murder and conspiracy to commit murder charges.
“The already incarcerated suspect will also be charged accordingly and will appear before court in due course,” Netshiunda added.
After Khumalo was murdered, several motives were shared, including the one mentioned by police - she was a witness.
A source close to the Daily News, who had visited the school on the day of the murder, said it was alleged that Khumalo had been a witness to a murder and that could have been the reason why she was killed.
Earlier this month, in a parliamentary written response, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube outlined school safety measures following Khumalo’s murder.
Gwarube said a safety officer deployed to the school recommended that the school strengthen their access control policy and implement a “by appointment only” policy at the school so that the security guard may always be certain of the identity of visitors.
Currently, the school allows parents to come and go as they please, and this led to the criminals involved in the shooting impersonating parents to gain access to the school premises.
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