Street vendor shot dead on sidewalk in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa.
NEWS:
A street vendor was shot dead on a sidewalk in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, after an altercation captured on CCTV at Wolmarans and Wanderers streets, Gauteng police said.
The victim was identified as Tabeth Chidziva. She had been selling food on the pavement in the area, and people in the Johannesburg CBD said she had lived there for years and prepared grilled meat in the evenings for customers near a tavern close to her flat.
The CCTV footage shows Chidziva and a man in an altercation near her cooking area. The video shows her moving away from him, then going back toward him while waving a green plate near his face. The man then pulls out a firearm, fires two shots at close range and walks away.
The footage confirms the shooting itself. It does not establish what started the confrontation, what was said before the gun was drawn, or whether there was any prior relationship between the gunman and Chidziva. Police did not announce a motive in the information available.
Police said they were called to the scene on Sunday and found Chidziva lying in a pool of blood. She had sustained gunshot wounds and was declared dead at the scene.
Gauteng police opened a murder investigation and appealed for information that could help trace the gunman. At the time of the police appeal, no arrest had been reported.
Family statements published after the shooting identified Chidziva as the sister of Zimbabwean opposition lawmaker Happymore Chidziva. A public statement attributed to him said the killing followed an earlier incident involving Chidziva’s pregnant daughter. That account has not been presented as a police finding in the material available, so the events before the recorded shooting should be treated as a family account rather than a confirmed investigative conclusion.
What is directly visible in the video is the final sidewalk confrontation and the gunfire. The footage shows one man drawing a gun during the altercation, firing twice and leaving the scene. It does not show a wider background, a verified motive or a full timeline of what happened before the recorded moments.
Police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stop at 08600-10111 or a nearby police station. They said information supplied to investigators would be treated confidentially.
News story written by DarkGore.
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