Girl, three women shot dead
Two young men killed in Mhlakulo village tavern
THREE women, including one who was pregnant, and a young girl from an Eastern Cape rural family were shot dead on New Year’s Eve when an unknown gunman opened fire on them.
The shocking attack took place at Mandlaneni village in kuNqwati near Bityi, outside Mthatha, shortly before 10pm.
Less than 100km from Mandlaneni, two young men were shot dead by two gunmen at a tavern in a Mqanduli village on New Year’s Day.
Two men who were in the tavern were rushed to hospital after they were shot in the arm and stomach.
The victims in the Mandlaneni attack have been identified as 66-yearold Nomaphantsi Zenzile, her pregnant daughter, Ntombikayise, and her two granddaughters, 18-year-old Zintle and 14-year-old Sinesipho.
Nomaphantsi Zenzile’s 40-year-old son, Msizeleni, was also shot by the unknown gunman, but the bullet grazed his shoulder, leaving him only slightly injured.
Mthatha police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena said the casings of about eight 9mm pistol cartridges were found at the scene of the Mandlaneni attack. “The motive for the attack is not known at this point but four cases of murder have been opened by the police.”
She said no arrests had been made in connection with the attack on the Zenzile family.
When the Daily Dispatch visited Mandlaneni yesterday, relatives of the slain family members, including Msizeleni, had gathered at one of the family’s homes.
Nomaphantsi Zenzile’s distraught brother, Tsolwana Mahlulo, said the family was in shock over the “senseless” killing of his relatives.
“Our wish is that whoever is behind this should be found and locked up. They should just throw away the key into the sea,” he said.
The killings took place in a tworoom dwelling built by Ntombikayise. Msizeleni said he was asleep in another room when he heard a knock at the room where the women and the girl were sleeping. He said when he went to check who was knocking, he came across the man who would later wipe out his family.
He said the man calmly asked for directions to Mancotsheni village, which is not far from Mandlaneni. While giving the man directions, Msizeleni said he heard a loud bang, and immediately felt a burning sensation in his shoulder.
When he realised he had been shot, Msizeleni said he ran for his life and managed to escape.
Msizeleni said Zintle, his niece, came out of the house and, after seeing the gunman, also started to run away but was killed after being struck by two bullets about 15m from the house.
“[But] lomntu [this person] then opened the door and shot the three other women, who were sleeping on a mattress, killing them instantly,” said an emotional Mahlulo.
When the Dispatch was shown the crime scene, family members asked that no photographs be taken of family members as the killer was still on the loose and they feared for their own lives.
They used mud to wipe away the blood on the floor where the two women and the girl were shot.
Mahlulo, meanwhile, urged the government to assist with the burials of the four victims, saying the family would not be able to foot the bill on their own.
Koena said they condemned the killings, and warned police would leave no stone unturned in their hunt for the killer.
In Mhlakulo village outside Mqanduli, the two men in the tavern died in a hail of bullets.
Police spokesman Major Zamukulungisa Jozana said the two armed men arrived at the tavern and shot the two men, killing them instantly.
“They [armed men] then turned and shot another two men. One was hit in the arm and another in his stomach, and had to be taken to hospital,” he said. The motive for the attack was also not known, and no arrests had been made.
Eastern Cape social development spokesman, Mzukisi Solani condemned the “mass murder” of the three women and the girl.
“It’s a tragedy. We … implore the criminal justice system to unleash its might against [the man] responsible for these senseless killings,” he said. —