Faizel McKenzie was murdered in cold blood inside his Newclare Pharmacy on Monday, and more than 48 hours later, police have no answers for a Westbury community on the brink of outrage.
Who killed Faizel McKenzie? – A question police can’t answer
McKenzie, a 43-year-old chemist renowned in the west Johannesburg suburb as ‘Faya’, was going on about his day when three men masked in balaclavas invaded his store and released a hail of gunfire, killing him instantly.
The incident occurred at approximately 15:30, a time when the pharmacy was usually buzzing with activity.
In a statement, Police spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo could only confirm that when the fatal shooting happened, Faya “was in his pharmacy with his three employees.”
“The motive for the killing cannot be confirmed at this stage. Police have opened a case of murder and are searching for the suspects,” Masondo said.
Coincidentally, two weeks prior, to the day, Ashwin McCabe, a revered community activist in Westbury, was viciously gunned down in a drive-by shooting outside of his takeaway outlet.
That murder remains unsolved, with police nowhere near a promising clue. At this time, it’s unclear if McCabe and McKenzie’s murders are, in any way, linked.
The striking similarities in the nature of the murders, however, are noteworthy.
McKenzie was buried before dusk on Tuesday, 26 March 2024.
Westbury community on the brink of outrage
The Westbury community has been rattled by the recent spike in murders, seemingly targeted toward community leaders and local entrepreneurs.
At this juncture, tensions in the community have been directed toward law enforcement for their failure to quell the escalating violence in the Johannesburg suburb.
One user, commenting on the ‘Faya’ story we broke earlier this week, said:
“Where are the people that need to protect and serve US, they are always on the scene when it is too late. Westbury is a hotspot, the community is need of police presense and visibilty throughout the day but they are never around when needed. Too many promises made when there are cameras in front of them but no action when the dust settles.”
While no mention of a community shutdown has been made, as yet, tensions remain palpable, with Westbury police under immense pressure for a breakthrough in the McCabe and McKenzie cases.
Here’s what Patriotic Alliance leader Gayton McKenzie said in reaction to McKenzie’s murder:
“I don’t personally know Faya McKenzie, I have seen the tributes pouting in from so any people, he had a chemist in Westbury and was shot at the chemist. I look at his pictures and it tells me so much about him, he was a dreamer, for Coloured young man to rise and go and watch his favourite team in the UK, to rise and open a pharmacy in our communities and to remain in such a violative community when you have the means to get out might not seem like a big deal but for a Coloured boy from Westbury it’s a major achievement simply because our circumstances demand of us to be gangster, we get shot because we were born in the wrong street.
“My deepest and most sincerest condolences to his family and friends but I am simply tired of saying RIP, don’t rest in peace, let the injustice being done to you haunt us, haunt us to change our circumstances on 29 May,” he said.