Hanover Park residents are in shock after a mentally ill man was struck in the head by a gang bullet and left to die alone in the dark on Monday.
Shocked residents discovered the body of Adenaan Cloete, 45, who suffered from epileptic seizures, behind Walvis Court on Monday morning, hours after hearing gunshots in the area.
According to a source at the scene, residents reported shootings at 1am where a woman was killed, but nobody knew Adenaan had been struck.
“At about 1 am, residents heard gunshots but nobody knew about him,” says the source.
“When people walking across the veldjie to go to work the next morning they saw the body and called police.
GRIM FIND: Adenaan was shot at 1am yesterday in Hanover Park
“He had one gunshot in the head. When we went to look, we saw it was [Adenaan].
“We all know him as a man who walks around Hanover Park, but he is not a gangster. He just has a mental illness, but never bothered anyone.
“Nobody knows if this was a stray bullet or if they shot him, but the whole thing doesn’t make sense it just looks like he died alone in the night behind the court.”
Residents say they last saw Adenaan earlier that evening at a local mosque where he asked a motorist for R2.
His heartbroken mom, Amelia, 70, says Adenaan often walked around at night, but on Sunday she had a gut feeling something was not right.
“He left here at about 8 pm and always walked around, but he always comes home,” she says.
“He is my eldest son, but he gets fits and has a mental disorder and gets medication.
“His brother told me later that night that they could not sleep because he was not here.
“I don’t know what it was and I just felt something was not right, but I prayed and went to bed.”
The next morning the family were woken by the frantic screams of neighbours saying Adenaan’s body had been found.
CONVERTED: Adenaan was last spotted at a local mosque
“His brothers went to look and they got a big skrik. We just can’t believe he was killed like that. I mean everyone knows he was not a gangster. We are very heartbroken,” the mom says.
She says as a young man in his 20s, Adenaan converted to Islam.
“He was born Denver Cloete, but converted on his own. He never had children and could not work so he got a Sassa grant.”
Police spokesperson, Siyabulela Malo, confirms the incident and says no arrests have been made yet.