The community of Mnini is still reeling in shock following the assassination of one of its elders on Friday, 23 August. Vumani Joseph Mbambo, 70, a past policeman, induna, PR councillor and businessman was gunned down in his shop in front of his wife Cynthia at about 5pm.
Police said two men entered the shop and fired a number of shots, fatally wounding the victim. A case of murder was opened at Umkomaas police station for investigation. Mbambo was one of the oldest residents who was born in Mnini and still living there.
He was a warrant officer at CR Swarts in Durban, before moving to Amanzimtoti as a detective. He retired from the police force in 1996 and was a PR councillor for the Umgababa and Mnini region from 2006 to 2011. He was an induna for a year last year.
Anyone who had met him will recall his sense of humour and broad, welcoming smile. “My dad was a jovial man. He was strict, but a very open person who was easy to read. If he didn’t like something, you knew about it,” said his son Mzwandile Mbambo, who immediately flew down from Johannesburg after hearing the devastating news on Friday evening.
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“He was a very good father to us. I will miss his jokes, because he was funny with a good sense of humour. He was the pillar for our family. This is our family home, where our ancestors are buried. My dad ran the business to look after our family.
“My stepmother is not coping with it and she has flashbacks. Sometimes she can sit and talk about what happened.” Mbambo was previously married to the late Selena who died in 2005. He married Cynthia in December 2013.
His funeral will take place at the family home on Saturday, 31 August. “We are expecting a lot of people and many have already popped in from the area to pay their respects. As a past induna, people still came to him for advice and the community is shocked by his death. He was old and recently he was battling with his health and we expected he could pass sometime, but not like this. For something like this to happen is such a shock,” said Mzwandile.
When the SUN enquired about the number of grandchildren Mbambo had, his sons recalled a story that summed up their dad’s character perfectly. One of his grandchild went up to him and asked: “How many grandchildren do you have grandpa?” His response: “Who asked you to ask me that?”
Close friend and colleague, ward 97 councillor, Andre Beetge said many people’s lives will be emptier without Mbambo in it. “It was with great sadness and shock that we received the news of Vumani’s murder via a telephone call from traditional leadership on Friday evening.
“I’ve known him and his family for 10 years, going back to the start of my own involvement with the DA when both Vumani and my predecessor, the late Sonny Brunsdon were councillors. Our professional relationship, which also found him mentoring me in African custom, soon turned into friendship that continued after his departure from council in 2011.
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“His shop, tragically the same one where he was brutally gunned down overlooking Mnini Dam from the inland side, has always been a favourite stop-over during constituency inspections, cultural tours into the rural area or short break-aways from the urban area with friends or family.
“Over the past years, we shared moments of joy and sadness – the birth of a grandchild, marriage of a daughter, unveiling of a tombstone and also his elevation to an induna within the traditional house of Luthuli.
“During the past few days I have been absolutely amazed at how the news of his death had spread across the area, with strangers from not only the immediate rural surrounds, but inland to Umbumbulu and Umlazi stopping me in the street to convey their condolences. A community has lost a leader, a family has lost a father, grandfather, husband and dear friend – all that remains for us to say is hamba kahle mngani wami, lala ngoxolo.”
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