Following the untimely and tragic death of their 15-year-old daughter, the Fukula family from Iraq informal settlement in Samora Machel is appealing to the community to assist with burial costs.
Azinani Fukula was shot dead by unknown people on Wednesday 11 June on her way to school (“Another learner shot dead,” City Vision, 12 June). According to reports, Azinani is the second learner to be killed in this fashion.
A distraught father Smith Fukula shared with City Vision the pain and misery Azinani’s demise brought to the family. Fukula was at work when he received a telephone call about her daughter’s death.
“I saw a missed call from an unknown number. During my lunch break. I phoned back the number, and to my surprise it was one of my neighbours. He told me to urgently come home. He said there was a problem and hung up. He didn’t tell me what the problem was. My lunch is only 15 minutes. Before I went back to work, I phoned him again and he said the same thing that I must come home quickly. There is a problem which I went to my boss and asked to leave,” he explained.
He said on his arrival at the house there were some family members and neighbours. They broke the news to him.
Fukula said he visited the scene accompanied by his sister. “On my arrival at the scene, the officers were already there, the scene was cordoned off by the police. I went through the tape to the body. One of the officers tried to stop me, but I told him that I’m the father of the deceased and I wanted to see her and he allowed me,” explained Fukula, adding he saw two bullet wounds, one in the face and another in the chest.
Nora Fukula, Azinani’s aunt, said the perpetrators robbed the deceased of her phone. “Her phone is still ringing. They phoned us and when we picked up the phone they didn’t speak. We called the phone back and they picked it up, but they did not speak. We are distraught about Azinani’s death. What hurt me the most was to see her laying with her back over her school bag and her hands were on her chest as if she was appealing for forgiveness,” said Nora.
She described Azinani as a humble child. Someone who liked to dance, sing and cook. She said the family is caught between a rock and hard place as they do not have funds to conduct the funeral. They hope to transport her remains to Centane in the Eastern Cape but money remains an obstacle.
Provincial police spokesperson Anelisiwe Manyana said Samora Machel police are investigating a murder case.
“According to reports, police members responded to a complaint of a shooting incident at the mentioned address and upon they found a female victim lying on the ground with gunshot wounds sustained to her body. The 15-year-old victim was declared deceased at the scene by the medical personnel,” she said, adding that no arrest has been made yet.
Azinani is expected to be buried on Saturday 28 June. Anyone who wants to assist can contact Nora Fukula on 083 491 4345.
