Brett Pope

Brett Pope (1964 - 2018)

Brief overview:

Brett (54), of Sanan’s Supermarket, and motorist Johannes Jakobus Fourie, who was driving behind him, were shot dead by ruthless hijackers.
Fourie was killed by the trigger-happy thugs when he tried to come to Pope’s assistance.
The killers, posing as hitchhikers, jumped on Pope’s vegetable delivery truck on the corner of the Mdantsane Access and Robbie de Lange roads in the morning.

Anele Kunca, who was in the cab with Pope, escaped unharmed. He said the truck came to a stop at the traffic lights on the Black Road. The two “hitchhikers” suddenly clambered onto the back of the white delivery truck. “We were going to stock up with vegetables at the East London market.” The attackers whipped out guns. “They told us to get off the vehicle. My boss drove off and they kept on knocking on the window with a gun, indicating that we should stop the car. “My boss continued driving and one of the guys started shooting at him.” He said the truck swerved on the road and five shots were fired through the glass, with two hitting Pope in the head and upper body. He said the truck came to a halt. “The doors were locked and when the truck stopped they broke the window and took all the money my boss had with him.” Kunca said the robbers then fired shots at the vehicle behind them. “There was a white bakkie following us. I think the guys inside that bakkie saw we were in danger and followed us but after the criminals shot my boss they started to shoot at those guys as well.”

East London police spokesperson Warrant Officer Hazel Maqala confirmed both killings. “Another motorist in his 50s who was driving a Nissan bakkie was also shot and certified dead by the paramedics,” she said. “The driver of the truck, who sustained upper body gunshot wounds, was taken to hospital and later succumbed to his injuries.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Street/Suburb
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
  • An undisclosed amount of cash has been taken.
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction
  • Hawks investigator Constable Mnoneleli Ceba gave testimony at the bail hearing of three of the five suspects. The five accused are; Warren Isaac and Patison Ncube from Johannesburg‚ Al Percino “Cino” Shearer and Shirley Gunuza from Parkside‚ and Sonwabile Mafanya from Mdantsane
  • Ceba said some of the gang members suspected for these attacks‚ “were military-trained and were using high-calibre‚ fully automatic rifles such as AK47s and R5 rifles”.

Additional Biographical Information:

Brett Pope was part of the popular the family-run Sanan’s Supermarket in Garcia Street, Cambridge, one of the few old-style grocers left in East London.

Links to Media articles:

• http://archive.fo/Y6dyc
• http://archive.fo/nwDF8
• https://www.pressreader.com/south-africa/daily-dispatch/20180803/28...
• http://archive.vn/HjBYN
• http://archive.vn/i9YTx