"He saw their guns and got out of the vehicle and raised his hands as if to say he was surrendering, but they shot him anyway."
|||Durban - Senzeni Cibane threw herself in front of her clergyman husband Agrippa Langa when a hitman entered their Isipingo home in 2008 and fired shots at them.
Four of the 12 shots hit Cibane, one struck Langa.
The couple survived the attack and moved to a plush home in Amanzimtoti.
But last Sunday, Cibane was not there when two gunmen, armed with an R5 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol, gunned down the reverend in the church yard.
The minister owns a fleet of 11 taxis and a thriving construction company. He had just arrived at his African Gospel Church in iLovu to officiate a morning worship service when he was killed.
“I think it was God’s plan for me not to be there. I would have certainly died if I was with my husband on Sunday. Those killers had one thing on their mind,” said Cibane.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane confirmed the incident.
“The motive for the killing is unknown and no arrests have been made at this stage,” he said.
In a statement, KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Willies Mchunu, expressed shock and dismay at the killing of the clergyman.
He welcomed the formation of a police task team to investigate the killing.
“I appeal to the community to come forward and volunteer any information that may lead to the arrest of suspects,” Mchunu said.
Cibane said she had accepted that the 2008 attack had to do with taxi routes, but she was at a loss to understand the latest attack.
She was with her children in a church taxi, used to fetch congregants from KwaMakhutha, when the incident occurred.
“In 2008 police never did a thing to find the perpetrators of the attack,” said Cibane.
“I still have nine of the cartridges from the 2008 shooting with me. To this day, police haven’t called me about the incident. I hope it won’t be the same,” she said.
Recalling what happened on the day her husband died on the church premises, Cibane said:
“Langa had just parked in the church yard when two gunmen, looking like churchgoers, approached on either side of his Nissan Pathfinder.
“He saw their guns and got out of the vehicle and raised his hands as if to say he was surrendering, but they shot him anyway.”
She described her husband as a straight-talker who stood for righteousness and peace.
“Langa was loved by his children and all the members of our church. He gave generously to church projects and helped many families in need. My children are all struggling to come to terms with their father’s death.”
No arrests have been arrests.
mervyn.naidoo@inl.co.za
Sunday Tribune