Two men gunned down inside their homes

Two people were killed in two separate suspected hit-related murders, both on Friday.

In both murders, the men were gunned down inside their homes – at close range – and nothing was stolen. This brings the number of hit-related murders in the Bay, since late January, to 19.

The latest attack saw Zola Ndamase, 54, killed at 8.45pm on Friday inside his house in Khumbani Street in Soweto-On-Sea.

Police spokesperson Captain Andre Beetge said Ndamase was found dead on his bed, after being shot multiple times.

“Details are very sketchy but what we do know is that the deceased [Ndamase] was out and his daughter went to bed, leaving the back door unlocked for him,” he said.

"He came home sometime prior to the shooting and was going to bed when he was killed. It is unknown whether he was followed home." 

Beetge said that nothing was stolen in the incident.

"The daughter was inside the house at the time and heard several gun shots. She hid away and when it went quiet she went to investigate."

Ndamase was found dead in his bed and police alerted.

“By that stage, the shooter had already fled the scene,” he said.

About four hours prior to Ndamase's killing, Mbuzeli Ngalo, 47, was killed inside his house in Magxaki Street in Kwazakhele.

Beetge said that Ngalo was murdered shortly before 5pm, while he was standing inside the house talking to a relative.

“Apparently someone outside shouted his name prompting him to go out and investigate. Three shots were heard outside the house and he [Ngalo] then [ran back inside],” he said.

“Another gunshot was heard inside the house. The suspect then ran away.”

Beetge said the relative found Ngalo’s body on the floor inside a bedroom. Also, nothing appeared to be stolen.

“It appears that these are deliberate targeted attacks, however, the motive remains unknown.”

Beetge said that both cases had been taken over by the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit. This comes after Luvuyo “Mabele” Plaatjies, 34, was gunned down in the garage of a house in Mbane Street in Zwide on March 17.

Plaatjies was at one stage dubbed Nelson Mandela Bay’s most dangerous and wanted suspects.

He was released from jail earlier in 2019 in East London after he was arrested in 2015 for allegedly being part of a gang who robbed a tobacco truck.

The spate of suspected hit-related murders since January has seen the Provincial Organised Crime Investigation Unit take over all the cases.

Some are believed to be linked to ongoing gang wars between robbery gangs, while other hits are believed to be connect to the SMME dealings in the metro.

Only one person has been arrested since the spate of killings.