businessman from Durban's Chatsworth area had been arrested on Monday Donovan Pillay died after he was critically injured during a drive-by shooting

A Durban man who was shot six times in a drive-by shooting in Hillary, Durban, last month, died in hospital last night.Police confirmed that Donovan Pillay, 26, the cousin of a prominent Hillary taxi boss, died after he was critically injured during a drive-by shooting on February 19. He was in the intensive care unit after undergoing surgery.Taxi boss Duncan Arumugam's wife, Leanne, had also been shot three times.Police are now investigating a case of murder as well as a case of attempted murder. Although they have remained tight-lipped about a motive for the shooting, many are speculating that February's incident was gang-or-taxi-related.
Four people have been arrested in Durban in connection with a taxi-related drive-by shooting that claimed the life of a 26-year-old man,Police spokesperson Superintendent Danelia Veldhuizen confirmed that a businessman from Durban's Chatsworth area had been arrested on Monday on a charge of murdering Donovan Pillay, and for the attempted murder of Pillay's cousin, Leanne Arumugam.
Another three men were arrested last week after being found in possession of the guns that believed to have been used in the shooting.
The three men have so far only been charged with the possession of unlicenced weapons while forensics experts carry out investigations to determine whether the guns were used in the February 19 shooting in Durban's Hillary suburb.
Bellair police told Sapa the weapons have so far been linked to two armed robberies - one in Pinetown and another in Chatsworth.Pillay was taking Arumugam - who is the wife of taxi boss Duncan Arumugam - to work when the incident took place last month.
They were blockaded by two cars on Fourth Street, Hillary, as they were attempting to turn into Stella Road.Occupants of two cars opened fire with AK47s and a 9mm pistol.Pillay sustained five gunshot wounds and was airlifted to Albert Luthuli Hospital while Arumugam was wounded in her arm.Pillay died on Monday.Police said the three suspects appeared in court last week and were due to re-appear in the Durban magistrate's court for a bail application on Thursday.A court date for the appearance of the Chatsworth businessman was yet to be released.
At least 17 drive-by shootings have been reported in the Chatsworth area over the past three years. The arrest on Monday was the first arrest ever made in any of the drive-by shooting cases.Family spokesman Gerald Arumugam said Pillay would be buried at the Mobeni Heights cemetery on Wednesday. - Sapa
Pillay, who was the driver of the vehicle, was shot in the chest, back, stomach and throat and passenger Leanne was shot in the arm. They were driving through the intersection of Fourth Road and Stella Road when they were shot at by the occupants of two vehicles, one in the front and the other behind them.
A police source said rounds from R5-rifles and 9mm pistols were found at the scene. The shooters apparently fled in the direction of Malvern. It is believed the Arumugams had moved from Chatsworth to Hillary last October and that February's attack was the second attempt to kill Duncan Arumugam. The last time Leanne was a victim of a drive-by shooting in 2005, she lost her 5-year-old son, Dredin Lee. At the time, police said they believed the attack was a gang-related hit on Dredin's father Duncan.Duncan was the owner of several taxis and at the time it was thought the shooting was a revenge attack for a 2003 incident for which Duncan and his brother were charged with murder. Both brothers were acquitted in 2006 of two charges of murder in a tavern shooting in Chatsworth where two people were killed.

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Armed robbery at First National Bank

Armed gang stormed into a Durban bank on Friday, holding staff and customers at gunpoint, KwaZulu-Natal police said."Five armed suspects entered, took cash and a customer's vehicle and fled," said Superintendent Willie Olivier of Durban's Organised Crime Unit.The incident took place at the First National Bank (FNB) in the Kloof Village Mall at 10:30am.Police found the vehicle a short distance away.A customer, Shaun Ridley said that the gang also attempted to break into the cash vault."They ordered us to lie on the floor and then they began searching us for wallets," he said.Ridley said the men then went to the vault and demanded the keys from FNB employees"But, they were having difficulty opening the vault and then came back to the cashiers and began taking money from the tills," he said.
Ridley said the gang also took video equipment and cameras from the bank before fleeing.

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Eric Myeza

Eric Myeza, 27, had been helping a customer when he was shot.
"A white Opel Monza drove past the service station and one of the occupants fired shots in Myeza's direction."
Read said that Myeza was struck in the leg by one of the bullets and was taken to hospital where he was reported to be in a stable condition.
In another incident, nearly R100 000 was taken in an armed robbery at the Bishopsgate Post Office in Russell Street in central Durban on Monday.

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20 teachers were held at gunpoint at a Durban school

20 teachers were held at gunpoint at a Durban school on Wednesday as two classes were about to write a matric paper, KwaZulu-Natal police said.
The incident took place in Chatsworth's Savannah Park Secondary School at 07:40, Chatsworth police spokesperson Captain Edmund Singh said.
Two security guards standing at the school's front gate were approached by four armed men who demanded cellphones and directions to the staff room.
"The guards refused to hand over their cellphones."
One of the robbers then took the two guards to the staff room at gunpoint, while the three other suspects kept guard outside the school.
"The robber entered the staff room and held around 23 educators at gunpoint," Singh told Sapa.
Jewellery to the value of R20 000 was taken, along with R20 000 worth of cellphones and about R2 000 in cash.
"When the three suspects outside realised the alarm had been activated, they ran off and hijacked another female educator of her vehicle," said Singh.

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