THE family of popular drag queen and whistleblower Queeny Madikizela Malema has been left devastated after she was shot and killed in Worcester on Monday night.
The 44-year-old drag queen, whose real name is Sylvano Hendricks, died when a hail of bullets was fired at her as she waited outside a relative’s home.
Her death has sparked widespread speculation as social media tributes have been shared, with Cape Flats drag queens expressing their condolences to the family.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk says cops are probing the shooting which occurred at 11pm in Riverview.
He explains: "According to reports the deceased and the victim were at the mentioned address to pick up someone with a grey BMW X3.
“While they were sitting in the vehicle, an unidentified person fired several shots at the person on the passenger side and the driver quickly drove off with the vehicle to a nearby hospital.
“On arrival at hospital, the 44-year-old passenger was already deceased due to injuries sustained and the 26-year-old driver was shot on the left shoulder."
Van Wyk says at this stage no arrests have been made, while the motive for the shooting forms part of the investigation.
A relative, who asked not to be named, says the incident has devastated the family.
The hartseer source says: "We are absolutely devastated, but we understand that we shared him with many others who are also mourning the loss.
“We had a family gathering recently and we had spent some good time together before the shooting.
“We don’t know if Queeny was targeted and we are asking the public to allow police the space to investigate the case and to allow the family time to mourn the loss.”
Queeny was thrust into the spotlight several years ago when she blew the whistle on a plot to murder former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
Queeny was convicted of fraud for running a pyramid scheme and released on parole in 2014. But two years later, she was arrested for allegedly violating her parole conditions.
This was followed by the arrest of Cape Town journalist who was accused of helping create fraudulent work documents for Queeny.
Since her release, Queeny has been at the forefront of advocating for the rights of bandiete, in the face of various claims of human rights violations inside Western Cape prisons.
Late last year, she blew the whistle showing how an inmate brazenly escaped from custody at Worcester Prison.
Anyone with information regarding this shooting is asked to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111 or via MySAPS mobile App