Maritzburg underworld boss killed in suspected hit outside home

Notorious Eastwood, Pietermaritzburg, gangster Shane Patchay was shot and killed outside his home in Eastwood, reports Maritzburg Sun.

The killing occurred just after 9pm, when Patchay returned to his home after attending a soccer training session with his team “Re-United”.

Still in his tracksuit pants, he exited his vehicle to open the gate. Four men confronted him and shot him outside his home.

Patchay desperately tried to escape by running towards his neighbour’s home, but fell, giving the gunmen the opportunity to finish the job.

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According to a neighbour, the men then fled down a nearby street, where a getaway car was waiting.

“We heard several gunshots and when we came outside we saw Shane lying on the floor. I checked his pulse, but it was too late, he was dead already,” said the neighbour.

Outside the home of Shane Patchay where he was murdered on Thursday night.

Patchay rose to prominence in the 1990s as a heavy-man for the notorious Eastwood gang, the Cash Money Brothers.

Patchay’s feared reputation led to his recruitment as a bodyguard for Richmond warlord Sifiso Nkabinde, and persistent allegations linking him to several murders and massacres that rocked the region during the mid-1990s in the aftermath of Nkabinde being expelled from the ANC for being an apartheid spy.

Over 1,200 lives were lost during the period of violent conflict between the UDM and the ANC in KZN.

Patchay was directly linked to the July 1997 murder of five ANC members, including councillors Bhekumuzi Mchunu and Aphas Mchunu, who were gunned down execution-style in Smozomeni, KZN. The attackers used an AK47, R4, and R5 rifles.

The attack was apparently planned at a shop next to Nkabinde’s house with Patchay being fingered as one of the conspirators involved.

In 1997, Nkabinde was arrested and charged with 16 counts of murder. A year later he was acquitted. As a reprisal for his arrest, eight people were shot dead in what was then dubbed the Tavern Massacre.

In January 1999, Nkabinde was assassinated, and in another revenge attack, 11 members of the ANC supporting the Ndabezitha family were shot dead.

Patchay was linked to both gun and drug running in Richmond and the surrounding violence-wrecked townships of Ndaleni and Magoda.

Patchay was seen as a father-figure by the local soccer team Re-United.

Patchay was also known for his passion for local football, having been a long-standing coach of Re-United football club.  The club is part of the SAB amateur league.  One of the club’s players, 28-year-old Steven “Scara” Tony, said he was shocked by his mentor’s brutal killing. He described Patchay as a father-figure who gave generously of his time.

“He would even dig deep in his pockets to make sure that we got what we needed for our soccer,” he said, adding he doubted the team would play in this year’s Easter Tournament.

“I doubt we would even be playing in this tournament this year. We have been dealt a heavy blow,” said Tony.

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