Landile Dingeni from Driftsands looked forward to growing his family and supporting his sister and brothers in their endeavours. But his dreams were shattered through the barrel of a gun on Saturday night October 1.
His family told Vukani that he had been shot in the head at a local shebeen, by a man known to them.
This man, they said, allegedly took him to the Khayelitsha District Hospital where he registered him as an unknown victim. According to the family, the man also registered himself and somebody who picked him up after he was hit by a car.
The family also told Vukani that the detective who handled the case had told them that the killer had confessed to police.
When Vukani visited the family on Thursday October 6, no one had been been arrested and they were frustrated with the handling of the case.
Landile’s sister Zukiswa Dingeni said: “We received a call early hours of Saturday from a mystery man telling us Landile was at the hospital. He was hit by a car. I screamed but prayed that he would stay alive.
“I didn’t think something this terrible had happened to him. We thought maybe he had been bruised. When we got to the hospital the following day, we were told that the doctor did not even touch him. He came there already dead,” she said.
And the man who allegedly confessed to killing Landile, she said, had come to apologise to the family.
“That came as a shock to us,” she said.
Ms Dingeni said they are now preparing to bury her brother but still grappling with understanding why this happened to her brother.
“They have taken somebody that we love and we care for. They lied and said he was hit by a car only to find out he was shot by a shebeen.
“We went there, his bloody brain was scattered in a corner and we had to clean it ourselves. May the law take its course but as a family there is nothing we can do now,” she said.
Another sister Nobantu Zondeki said while they want justice, an arrest would not bring their brother back.
“Landile was an amazing guy, very quiet, an amazing fellow. He loved his family and relatives. He was nice and wouldn’t provoke anyone or even hurt a fly. He was an amazing brother, son, and friend. I am glad we will be able to bury his remains,” she said.
Mfuleni police said the case had been transferred to provincial SAPS for further investigation, but Vukani’s requests for input from them had not been answered by the time this story was published.