Family murdered, house torched during night attack
THE KZN police commissioner has assembled a task team after two women and two children - the youngest three months old - were murdered in their home in KwaMtholo.
On Wednesday, KwaMsane SAPS received reports of the fatal shooting.
“On arrival, police found a house that was torched with the deceased still inside,” said police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker.
Naicker said a survivor told the police there was a knock on the door at about midnight, and a suspect was spotted with a firearm in his hand.
“Shortly afterwards, the witness heard gunshots being fired in the house. Two women and two children were sleeping in the house. The suspects torched the house before fleeing through the window. The motive is not known at this stage,” Naicker said.
The deceased were identified as Thembelihle Dlamini (60), Nokuthula Dlamini (42), Sanele Dlamini (7) and Alondwe Khanyile (3 months).
Nokuthula worked for the KZN Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) as a community development worker in Mtubatuba.
KZN police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi said, “A dedicated task team of police officers from the district and province has been tasked to investigate these brutal murders and bring the perpetrators to book. We will not rest until the suspects are arrested.”
In a statement condemning ‘the senseless murder’, Cogta said it was ‘devastated and saddened by the unbearable news of Nokuthula’s brutal murder’.
The department called on law enforcement agencies to ‘take the fight to the next level’ and work co-operatively ‘to bring these acts to a complete stop’.
“We want our women and children to feel safe in our province. These barbaric and inhumane acts of utmost violence have no place in our society.
“September is Heritage Month, and in our African culture - even during a war - our women and children remained sacrosanct. This cowardice is foreign to us.”