The family of a long-serving caterer for the SABC1 drama Uzalo believes her murder may have been orchestrated by someone known to her after she allegedly warned relatives that she feared for her life.
Zandile Blose, 44, was gunned down outside her home in KwaMashu’s K-Section on Friday while making preparations for the funeral of her husband, Msizi Blose, who had died in a car accident in Mpumalanga less than a week earlier.
According to a relative, who asked not to be identified, two men wearing hoodies and shorts allegedly emerged from a Toyota Etios and opened fire on Blose shortly after she got into a vehicle that had arrived to collect her.
The relative said the Etios had been seen driving suspiciously around the area before the attack.
The tragedy came just days after Msizi Blose was killed in a crash while returning to work in Mpumalanga.
“He had travelled to Durban, where the family has a home in uMzinyathi, Inanda. On his way back to Mpumalanga, he reportedly hit a cow that had wandered onto the road. His vehicle overturned and collided with a truck, killing him instantly,” the relative said.
Following her husband’s death, Blose remained at the family home in uMzinyathi, where relatives had gathered to support her while she observed traditional mourning rituals.
The relative said Blose received a telephone call from her late husband’s workplace confirming they were speaking to her. Shortly afterwards, she allegedly became uneasy because of the behaviour of one of her relatives.
“She told family members that she no longer felt safe and believed this man was going to kill her,” the relative claimed.
The family further alleged that on the day before the shooting, the same man drove past the uMzinyathi home several times in an unfamiliar vehicle while talking on his cellphone.
“Blose became frightened. She woke the children, locked herself in a room and refused to continue sitting with the family around the mourning candles. She said she believed the man intended to kill her,” the relative said.
Unable to sleep, Blose waited until morning before arranging transport to her KwaMashu home to collect belongings and attend to errands at Bridge City Shopping Centre, including sending money to purchase a cow for her husband’s funeral.
According to the family, she was attacked moments before leaving.
“The driver and another passenger had arrived to fetch her. There was a Toyota Etios parked nearby, but nobody suspected anything. She struggled to lock the gate, and while her friend secured it, she got into the vehicle. As soon as she closed the door, two gunmen approached and opened fire,” the relative alleged.
The gunmen then fled in the waiting Etios.
The family believes investigators should examine the concerns Blose had shared before her death.
“We are asking Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi to assign a specialised team to investigate this case and arrest those responsible. That is the justice we want,” the relative said.
The family has postponed the funeral to next weekend so that Zandile and her husband can be buried together.
Blose was well known in the television industry, having provided catering services to the cast and crew of Uzalo for many years. She also ran a catering and décor business. She and her husband married in 2014 and are survived by their three children, with the youngest being 14 and still in school.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that KwaMashu police are investigating a murder case after a woman was shot dead on Gwaca Road in K-Section on Friday.
“Police were called to a local clinic where the victim had been rushed after the shooting. On arrival, officers found that she had succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds,” Netshiunda said.
He said the motive for the killing remains unknown and no arrests have been made.
