A family executed in their own home
Neighbours in eMachobeni, Inanda, heard the piercing screams of the Lushaba children as gunfire shattered the silence of their home. Their father, Jabulani Lushaba (38), was the first victim — with three bullets to the neck and face. Their mother, Slindile Buthelezi (38), a teacher, had been hiding behind the sofa when the attack began. She barely had time to react before the killers emptied more than 20 rounds into her body.
In less than a minute, the couple lay lifeless in their lounge, their home turned into a blood-soaked crime scene.
The killers vanished into the night, leaving behind shattered lives and a community steeped in fear. This was Monday evening in Inanda — an area that has become South Africa’s crime capital, where murder is routine, justice elusive, and survival is a daily ordeal.
One of the relatives, who was the first to arrive at the scene and had the grim task of cleaning up, described the horror: “In my 65 years, I never imagined witnessing something like this. The shooting happened around 6.30pm, but we were only allowed to clean the scene at 3am after the forensic team had left. I had to pick up my nephew’s teeth from the floor. There was so much blood— especially where my nephew’s wife was lying — that we had to use a dustbin to collect it and flush it away.”
Struggling to make sense of the brutality, she added: “We are wondering what could have led to their grisly killing, in front of their children. They were a peaceful couple who seldom left their home. We want answers… where is justice?”
Wracked by violence
The killing of Jabulani and Slindile Lushaba is just the latest in a string of brutal murders that have plagued Inanda in recent years.
According to South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics for the last quarter of 2024, Inanda remains one of the most violent areas in the country, ranking among the five police stations with the highest rates of murder, rape, attempted murder and other violent crimes. This trend has remained consistent for several years.
In the third-quarter crime statistics for 2023, released by then police minister Bheki Cele, Inanda had the highest number of murder cases between October and December, alongside other high-crime areas such as Mfuleni, Gugulethu, Nyanga, and Khayelitsha in the Western Cape.
The statistics paint a grim picture — KwaZulu-Natal, where Inanda is located, recorded 7,710 murders in this period, an increase from the previous year. Despite efforts to allocate more resources to high-crime stations, Inanda remains a hotbed of violent crime, with police struggling to contain the bloodshed.
Aside from murder, Inanda has been identified as having the largest number of rapes, consistently ranking among the three police stations reporting more sexual offences than any other. In the last quarter of 2024 alone, Inanda recorded about 91 rape cases, meaning more than one rape per day was reported. The area also had the highest number of general sexual offences, with 114 cases in just three months.
Police officials acknowledge the crisis but argue that many crimes occur inside homes, making proactive policing difficult. However, community leaders insist that gang activity, poverty, and weak law enforcement have turned Inanda into a lawless zone, where criminals operate without fear of consequences.
Policing under siege
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Col Richard Netshienda acknowledged the severity of crime in Inanda, noting that while murder rates have dropped, the area remains a hotspot for violent crime. But the situation is improving, he maintains.
“Many police interventions have been introduced in Inanda, and results are starting to show. In the crime statistics released for the third quarter of the previous financial year, murder cases showed a notable decrease in Inanda, and the station moved from number one to five nationally. The improvement can be attributed to an improved relationship between the police and community members.
“Community members have been providing valuable information about suspected criminals, and many of them have been arrested. Those who chose to put up a fight and attempted to kill police officers were fatally wounded during several shootout incidents.”
Netshienda added: “Most crime in Inanda can be linked to gangsterism. Police intelligence has unmasked most of them, including the most wanted leader of the so-called West Gang. Last month, four suspected gang members were arrested in Amaoti with firearms and have been linked to over 20 cases of murder.
“Mob justice is a crime. Nobody has the right to take the law into their own hands, and if that happens, police are mandated to act. Police were pleased to see residents of Amaoti marching against crime when the four gangsters appeared in court — those are positive signs that communities are prepared to work with the police.
“Community co-operation has led to arrests, but gangsterism remains a major issue,” he said.
Even police officers are not safe. In February 2025, a Durban police constable was executed in broad daylight, and his service firearm and cellphone stolen. A month later, another officer, Mvelo Gcabashe, was gunned down in Inanda, with the suspects still at large.
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi highlighted rapid urbanisation, drug abuse and declining police numbers as key challenges.
“With fewer officers, it’s harder to maintain law and order in high-crime areas like Inanda,” Mkhwanazi warned in a radio interview with Eyewitness News in February.
Legacy of violence
According to Crispin Hemson, director of the International Centre of Non-Violence at the Durban University of Technology, Inanda’s history of violence dates back to colonial and apartheid times, when people were forcibly relocated.
“During apartheid, people were dumped there. The area has endured multiple forms of violence without any healing process,” he said.
Detectives are overwhelmed, carrying too many dockets with limited resources. Low conviction rates embolden criminals
— Chad Thomas, organised crime investigator
Today, gang activity, hunger, and unemployment fuel crime, with young men recruited into gangs as this becomes their only means of survival.
Chad Thomas, an organised crime investigator, described Inanda’s crime levels as “exceptionally concerning”.
“Detectives are overwhelmed, carrying too many dockets with limited resources. Low conviction rates embolden criminals,” he said.
At Inanda Police Station, crime victims are held up for hours because of a shortage of police vans. A 36-year-old eThekwini Municipality clerk, whose R32,000 iPhone was stolen, expressed frustration: “The tracker shows the thief is still in Mtshebheni, but I’ve been waiting here for hours. They say there are no vans. I’m afraid I’ll never get my phone back.”
West Gang’s grip
The West Gang is a ruthless group of young, heavily armed men which has terrorised businesses and families, thriving on fear and extortion. Their leader, Mnqobi Nzimande, was killed in a police shootout in Verulam on January 30. During his lavish funeral, held at Phoenix Hall, three gang members were killed in a shootout with police after attempting a gang-style salute.
Despite his criminal record, some mourners hailed Nzimande as a hero, while others felt relief at his death, describing the gang as a terror group that recruited boys as young as nine.
Despite Nzimande’s death, fear still grips Inanda. Many small business owners continue to pay protection fees to individuals linked to the gang.
A local hawker, speaking anonymously, revealed: “These boys are a law unto themselves. First, they targeted Pakistani, Somali and Ethiopian-owned spazas, then they closed in on drug dealers, making everyone buy from them. Slowly, every business was paying rent to them. If you don’t pay, they will assault you if you’re lucky — or kill you in broad daylight if you’re not. And you cannot even go to the police because some officers are working with them.”
Those who tried to resist have paid the price. A leading member of the Inanda Community Policing Forum has fled the province, fearing for his life after hearing his name was on the gang’s hit list.
“I know of no less than 10 forum members who have been killed by the gang. My son warned me to leave before I became another statistic. My whole family was worried that I would die… simply because I had decided to take a stand.”
Meanwhile, the Lushaba couple were due to be buried in Inanda on Saturday. For their family and the community, one question remains: will justice prevail, or will their deaths become just another statistic?
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