“He Was the Youngest”: Air Force Sergeant’s Family Grieves as Mayor’s Guards Face Court

A quiet street in Mabopane became the scene of a national outrage last week when two bodyguards assigned to Madibeng Mayor Douglas Maimane allegedly shot and killed South African Air Force Sergeant Michael Swanton. The 36-year-old sergeant was killed in front of his wife, Stephanie, in what she has described as an entirely unnecessary death.

As the two bodyguards prepare for their first court appearance, a shattered family is left to mourn a life cut brutally short. Speaking anonymously out of fear, a close family member shared the profound void left behind. “It’s hard to put into words, the family is struggling to process the reality.”

A Family Broken, Children Left Fatherless

Sergeant Swanton was the youngest of three siblings, a devoted son close to his parents. His death has brought his family to its knees. “All they do is cry,” the family member said of his two sisters, one of whom flew in from London for his memorial service at Air Force Base Swartkop this Wednesday.

The deepest wound is for his two children, aged just two and four. “They will never have the opportunity to know their dad,” the relative said, capturing a loss that stretches far into the future.

A Grieving Family Silenced by Legal Fear

In a bitter twist, the family has been advised to stay away from the suspects’ first court appearance to avoid any potential claims that they are intimidating the accused. “We were told to stay away, otherwise the accused can say we intimidate them. But why can’t we comment if asked?” the family member lamented. This legal caution has added a layer of helplessness to their grief, denying them the chance to witness the first step toward accountability.

The incident has ignited fierce public anger, raising urgent questions about the conduct of politically appointed security details and the use of lethal force. That the victim was a serving member of the South African National Defence Force, a man who swore an oath to protect the country, has only amplified the sense of injustice.

As the bodyguards face the legal process, a community and a nation watch closely. For the Swanton family, the courtroom proceedings will be a distant, formal echo of a personal catastrophea nightmare that began with a mayor’s convoy and ended with a wife witnessing her husband’s murder, and two children waiting for a father who will never come home.

{Source: Citizen}

Follow Joburg ETC on Facebook, Twitter , TikTok and Instagram

For more News in Johannesburg, visit joburgetc.com