Pretoria fitness instructor Lawrence Masinge, who was murdered in his home on Wednesday evening while giving an online class, was being followed in the weeks before his murder.
That's according to his sister Irene, who told the Sunday Times that neighbours first alerted Lawrence that a car was following him about two weeks ago. The same car was seen outside his Saulsville house on the day he was killed.
Irene, who lived with her brother, said that two days before the murder they had been alarmed to see two men in their yard. The intruders ran off.
Lawrence, 40, a single father, had also received death threats last year, which Irene and her other brother, Simon, believe are linked to the murder.
Lawrence was shot multiple times — 15 spent cartridges were found in the room — as more than 20 horrified participants in his online workout class watched via Zoom.
Irene, who said the assailant took only Lawrence's phone, described how she came face-to-face with him after she heard gunshots and went to investigate.
“I was watching a soapie at around 7pm and I could hear his [Lawrence’s] music, but not his voice. I could hear sounds like fireworks and when I checked out the window, the shooter was coming out from his room.
“He stood in the middle of the yard and looked at the window and pointed a gun at me. I bent down to hide and crawled to the bedroom,” she said.
Terrified for her life, she waited until she was sure the killer had left before she went to check on her brother. He was lying dead, with the anguished cries of his clients echoing from the speakers.
“I screamed and ran outside. I tried to unlock the gate, thinking I would see a sign of a car or a person but I couldn’t see anything. Then I called the police, they came after 2½ hours.”
Irene said she couldn’t see the shooter’s face clearly or what he was wearing as it was dark outside.
“I am so scared. If it’s people who know us who did this, then we are not safe. We used to tell ourselves that we are safe because the walls are high and the gate is high. I have never thought that a family member would be killed inside our home.”
She said she had been having sleepless nights since the killing.
Simon Masinge said that last year Lawrence had told them that he had received threats, but had not elaborated or said if they had been calls or text messages. He said his brother had not reported the threats to police.
“We assumed the reason for them was because he had a lot of customers and was loved by many,” he said.
Irene said that when Lawrence learnt he was being followed he had changed his travel routine and used e-hailing taxis.
Simon said his brother's death was a great loss.
“He was a very good person; he didn’t like talking or making noise. He loved his job with all his heart, he was always at work. He used to wake up at 5am and work until 9pm.
“I have never seen anyone coming to complain about him. He loved his family and his children.”
Lawrence had two daughters aged 14 and six.
Irene and Simon do not know if Masinge had been in a relationship, but said he had been on good terms with the mothers of his children.
Nokuthula Dlamini, one of the participants in the training session, said Lawrence was killed 30 minutes into the class.
“He was busy talking to us ... [then] I saw him fall down. I thought he had fainted.”
Dlamini said she saw someone enter the room. “I realised the person was shooting. That is when I was like, ‘Hayibo, this guy is shooting.’ I saw him [Lawrence] trying to get up and that is when the guy shot him again.”
The man went out for a few seconds and came back and shot Lawrence in the head, Dlamini said. “I was ducking because in my head I thought he would shoot me too. It was a traumatic experience.”
She praised Lawrence for his dedication and changing people’s lives. “ We were doing the exercises online but you could feel his energy and you would connect with him because he had a passion for what he was doing. He was not just an instructor, he was a teacher.”
Zazi Nsibanyoni-Mugambi was also taking part in the training session when the shots were fired.
“Everyone literally watched a lifeless body, frantically trying to get help. I train with Lawrence all the time. I was traumatised. It was watching murder live on Zoom and there is nothing the people on the other side could have done.”
Police spokesperson Lt Col Mavela Masondo said detectives had not established a motive nor made any arrests.
He said police would investigate claims that officers had taken more than two hours to arrive at the scene, and that the family could also lodge a formal complaint at their nearest police station.
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