Slain metro cop’s funeral stopped

Tania Broughton

DURBAN: The funeral of murdered metro police senior manager Innocent Chamane has been stopped by a court interdict amid allegations by his ex-wife and children that his girlfriend and sisters want to “rush it through” to quickly take control of his financial affairs.

Durban High Court Judge Piet Koen granted the urgent interim order late on Friday, ordering that the “heirs” – his ex-wife Sandra, daughter also Sandra and three sons – be given control of his body and that his six sisters and girlfriend, Thando Duma, give them his death certificate, the keys to his safe and any cash taken from it.

They were also ordered to stop dealing with insurance companies. The respondents have until November 19 to file papers opposing the order being made final.

Chamane was a controversial and largely unpopular figure in the metro police. He was shot several times in the head and body when he returned home at KwaNgcolisi, near Hillcrest, last Tuesday evening.

In her affidavit on behalf of the “heirs”, his daughter Sandra Chamane said her siblings had “strong emotional ties with him”.

“Our relationships may not have been perfect and, at times, strained, but we loved him dearly,” she said.

The respondents had also barred them from seeing his body at the mortuary by not putting their names on the “permitted visitors list”.