KZN police shoot dead West Gang suspect wanted for murder and kidnapping

A man wanted for murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and house robberies was shot dead by police in Inanda, north of Durban, on Wednesday. No officer was injured in the exchange of fire.

According to eNCA, the man was an alleged member of the West Gang. Police said they received information that he was at a house on Ndimande Road in the Mzomusha area of Newtown C, Inanda.

Officers acted on that intelligence and went to the address. On arrival they found five men at the house and identified themselves as police officers.

When the officers asked to search the men, one of them allegedly ran into the house. Shots were fired, and police said an exchange of gunfire followed between the suspect and the officers. The suspect was hit and died of his injuries.

What the police say happened

The account is the police’s own, carried by eNCA. It sets out a sequence that has become familiar in KwaZulu-Natal, where intelligence-led operations are used to find suspects in serious and violent cases.

The police have not said what charges the other four men at the house may face, or whether any of them were arrested. They have also not said what weapon or weapons were recovered at the scene.

Investigators are looking into whether the dead man was part of a group of young men seen firing firearms in a video that circulated widely and was reportedly recorded in KwaMashu. That link has not been established.

The state’s job, and the law

Under South African law, the authority to investigate crime, to arrest and to use force rests with the state, through the South African Police Service. No group and no individual may take that work on themselves. Where a suspect is killed in a police operation, the matter falls under the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, which is required to investigate deaths as a result of police action.

KwaZulu-Natal has seen a sustained push against organised and gang-related crime in recent years, and Wednesday’s operation is part of that work. Police have repeatedly asked residents to pass on information about wanted suspects, and the Inanda operation began with exactly that kind of tip-off.

The killing of a wanted man does not close the cases against him. Murder, attempted murder, kidnapping and house robbery investigations continue, and police will now look at who else may have been involved in those matters.

What it means for people in Inanda

For residents of Newtown C and the surrounding areas, the immediate effect is a police presence and an ongoing investigation in their street. For the families of the victims in the cases the man was wanted for, the shooting removes a suspect but not the loss.

Violent crime in KwaZulu-Natal is investigated by specialised units, and the arrests that follow intelligence-led operations are prosecuted through the National Prosecuting Authority. That is the process that will now determine what happens to any other suspects linked to these cases.

The police have asked anyone with information about the KwaMashu video, or about the crimes the dead man was wanted for, to come forward. The investigation into the video is continuing.

Source: eNCA, Alleged West Gang member killed in shootout with KZN police