A suspect wanted in connection with the April 2026 killings of two SAPS Crime Intelligence officers was shot dead during a police operation in Inanda, north of Durban, on Friday morning, 25 September 2026. Five other suspects were arrested during the same operation.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said the dead man was wanted for the murder of two Crime Intelligence members ambushed in Mount Edgecombe on 30 April 2026. A multidisciplinary team is investigating the case.
Police approached the suspect at a house. He was the only person targeted in the operation who resisted arrest. He fired at officers from inside the house. Negotiations followed because a girlfriend was inside. The woman was released. The suspect still refused to surrender and then shot a member of the SAPS Special Task Force in the hand. The suspect was fatally wounded during the operation.
Police have not released the dead suspect’s name. They have not released the names or ages of the five people arrested, the charges they face, or their court date. The investigation is continuing.
The Friday operation follows the 30 April 2026 ambush on Flanders Drive in Mount Edgecombe, near the Cornubia Mall area.
Captain Louis Nel and Sergeant Mandla Khuzwayo, both attached to Crime Intelligence, were travelling in an unmarked state vehicle, a white Toyota Hilux, when they came under fire. Police said the officers were on an undercover operation. KwaZulu-Natal Acting Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Crime Detection Major General Anthony Gopaul said suspects had been following the officers and tried to stop their vehicle before the shooting on Flanders Drive. That attempt failed. The officers continued and were then ambushed.
Gopaul said a group of at least five armed men was involved. At least two suspects were in the front of a pickup. About three others with rifles were in the back. When the officers’ vehicle stopped at a slight bend, the suspects fired at the windscreen. High-calibre firearms were used. A large number of spent cartridges were recovered. The officers’ vehicle was riddled with bullet holes.
Nel, who was driving, died at the scene. Khuzwayo was also shot, received advanced life support at the scene, and was airlifted to hospital. He died in hospital on 25 May 2026 from his gunshot wounds.
Private security and emergency services also responded on 30 April. Reaction officers found two occupants of the Hilux after reports of gunfire. A white Toyota Quantum was reported as the attackers’ vehicle. Police later processed three crime scenes. Suspects abandoned a getaway vehicle and set it alight.
Acting National Commissioner Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane said on the day of the ambush that maximum resources had been mobilised. Specialised units including Crime Intelligence operatives, detectives, the organised crime unit and tactical teams were deployed. Employee Health and Wellness staff, including psychologists and chaplains, were sent to the family and to Crime Intelligence members.
Captain Nel was buried on 8 May 2026 in Durban. The funeral was attended by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli and Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. At the funeral, Mkhwanazi told the families that the suspects would be found dead or alive.
After Khuzwayo’s death in May, Dimpane said a dedicated team was still following leads.
On Friday, police confirmed the dead suspect was linked to those killings and that five other suspects were arrested in the same operation. They have not said whether further suspects remain at large. They have not released further forensic or ballistic findings linking the Inanda house to Flanders Drive.
The names of the five arrested suspects, the identity of the man killed on Friday, and the full charge sheet have not been released. The investigation into the April ambush and Friday’s operation is continuing.
Driver in his twenties killed after hatchback hits truck trailer on N17
A male driver in his twenties died after a hatchback collided with the tail end of an articulated truck trailer on the N17 freeway eastbound in Ekurhuleni in the early hours of Friday, 25 September 2026.
City of Ekurhuleni Disaster and Emergency Management Services received the call at 03:30. Firefighting and rescue teams were dispatched immediately.
On arrival, crews found a hatchback light motor vehicle that had carried five occupants. The vehicle had struck the rear of a truck-trailer, rolled several times and come to rest in the middle of the N17 just after the Rondebult Road on-ramp.
One male occupant, described as the driver, was trapped in the wreckage with severe injuries. Paramedics declared him dead at the scene.
The four other occupants, all male, sustained serious but stable injuries. They were taken by ambulance to nearby medical facilities.
The truck driver was unharmed.
Two lanes of the freeway were closed while rescue work took place. DEMS used hydraulic rescue equipment, including the Jaws of Life, to reach and recover the deceased from the wreckage.
The scene was then handed over to law enforcement for investigation and for the road to be cleared and rehabilitated.
No identities of the deceased or the injured have been released. The cause of the collision has not been confirmed.
OTHER NEWS
29-year-old man shot dead outside girlfriend’s home after kidnapping and robbery in Buffelsdraai
A 29-year-old man was shot and killed outside his girlfriend’s residence in Buffelsdraai, KwaZulu-Natal, in the early hours of Friday, 25 September 2026, after two suspects kidnapped him and a woman, robbed them, broke into the property, and then confronted the woman’s boyfriend as he arrived home from work.
First responders were called out at approximately 01:12. On arrival it was established that two suspects had approached a man and a woman who were speaking on the main road. The woman had been returning home after consuming alcohol at a neighbour’s residence when she met the man, who was a friend of her boyfriend.
According to the male victim, the suspects were dropped off by a white vehicle. They approached the pair and produced a firearm. Both victims were forced into the boot of a vehicle and driven further along Buffelsdraai Road.
The suspects stopped and assaulted the victims while demanding cash. The woman told them there was a safe containing money at her residence.
The suspects then went to the property, forced open a burglar guard and gained entry. They removed a safe that was reported to contain an undisclosed amount of cash and a licensed firearm belonging to the woman’s boyfriend, who was at work at the time.
The woman was also forced to unlock her cellphone and access her banking application. The suspects checked her balance and transferred R10 000 from her account.
One suspect remained outside guarding the male victim. That victim was robbed of his smartphone and forced underneath a vehicle. The second suspect was inside the residence with the woman. She was left unconscious but later regained consciousness. No injuries were reported for her.
As the suspects were leaving on foot, they encountered the woman’s boyfriend arriving from work in a dark grey Volkswagen Polo. They confronted him at the gate, shot him once in the face, and fled in his vehicle.
Paramedics declared the 29-year-old deceased at the scene.
Buffelsdraai is a township in the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, north of Durban, near Verulam. The incident took place on and around Buffelsdraai Road and at a private residence in the area.
The sequence of events, as established at the scene, was: the pair were approached on the main road; both were forced into a vehicle boot and driven along Buffelsdraai Road; they were assaulted and cash was demanded; the suspects were directed to the residence; a burglar guard was forced open; a safe containing cash and a licensed firearm was removed; R10 000 was transferred from the woman’s bank account after she was forced to open her banking application; the male victim was held outside, robbed of his phone and forced under a vehicle; the woman was left unconscious inside and later regained consciousness; the suspects then met the boyfriend at the gate as he arrived in the dark grey VW Polo, shot him once in the face, and fled in that vehicle.
The deceased was 29 years old. The licensed firearm taken from the safe belonged to him. The amount of cash in the safe was not disclosed. The R10 000 transfer from the woman’s account was confirmed as having taken place after the suspects accessed her banking application.
No further official identification of the deceased, the woman, or the suspects had been publicly released at the time of writing. No arrests were reported in the immediate aftermath of the incident. The stolen dark grey VW Polo and the white vehicle that initially dropped the suspects off had not been publicly accounted for.
The call-out time was approximately 01:12 on Friday morning. The shooting of the 29-year-old occurred as the suspects were leaving the property on foot and met him at the gate. He was declared dead at the scene.
The facts established at the scene remain limited to the account given by the surviving male victim, the condition of the woman after she regained consciousness, the items removed from the property, the bank transfer, the stolen vehicle, and the single gunshot wound to the face that killed the 29-year-old man.
