Durban mother fighting for her life, unaware her two children were killed in shooting

Fighting for her life in hospital, a Durban mother has been whispering the names of her two children who were with her when they were attacked in their home in the metro.

Charlene Naicker, 38, does not know her 14-year-old son Ainzlee and two-year-old daughter Chazlynn died from gunshot wounds and their joint funeral has been scheduled for Saturday.

Naicker and the two children were shot at their home in the Welbedacht East area in Chatsworth on Friday.

KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Lt-Col Nqobile Gwala said three armed men approached the home and opened fire on the mother and her children.

The two children died in hospital while Naicker, who was shot six times, is in ICU.

“The motive for the attack is unknown,” Gwala said.

Naicker's sister Samantha Windvogel, who is a ward councillor in Durban, told TimesLIVE on Thursday she visited her sister on Wednesday.

“She is plugged into machines and has a tube in her throat, but is trying to communicate. She has been whispering, 'Chazlynn, Ainzlee'. She doesn’t know they have passed away. How can we tell her?” she said.

Naicker's husband was not at home during the attack. Their other children, aged five, seven and 11, were in the yard, but escaped unharmed.

Windvogel said the children told her their mother was about to serve supper when the gunmen walked into the yard and started shooting.

“Her husband is a mess. Her children are terrified. Our family is devastated.”

She said her mother was Naicker's neighbour.

“When my mother heard gunshots, she ran next door. My sister was hanging over the stable door. There was blood everywhere. The children were on the floor in the house. The neighbours took them to hospital, but the children did not make it.”

Windvogel described her nephew as the family joker. He attended the Durban School for the Hearing Impaired with his 11-year-old sister.

“He was her protector. I am sure he would have tried to protect my sister on Friday because that was how he was. He was always looking out for us.”

Windvogel said her niece was the light of the family. “She was the baby and the light of our lives. Who kills a baby? I don’t know why this happened. I really can't understand it.”

TimesLIVE