Two appear for mass murder in city’s Marikana settlement

TWO brothers charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, pointing of a firearm and attempted murder in the Athlone Magistrate’s Court are believed to be linked, ballistically, to the 11 people that were massacred in the Marikana informal settlement in September.

The two brothers, aged 23 and 24-years-old, were arrested on Monday for attempted murder and the following day they were linked to the Marikana murders. A relative of the two brothers, aged 27-years-old, was arrested on Saturday for an armed robbery case and he was also positively linked to the Marikana killings, according to police spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga.

Another suspect, a 19-yearold suspect linked to Marikana murder, was arrested in Queenstown last month and appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court. Police say the suspect was positively linked by means of ballistic evidence to 11 Marikana murders and he is being held in Pollsmoor Prison. The last outstanding suspect was a 26-yearold man but police said they were following up leads and an arrest was expected soon.

On the night of September 29 four of the 11 people were shot dead inside Emaweleni shebeen in Marikana. Minutes later a security guard who was hitch-hiking was also shot dead. Minutes after that, four more people were killed in Rolihlahla. The bodies of two more were found in alleys.