Cops hold 3 for brutal slaying of widow
Police have arrested three men in connection with the slaying of Coffee Bay widow Nothaymile Sitshisa.
The brutal manner in which Sitshisa, 50, was killed at her home in March sent shock waves through the community. It also highlighted the scourge of gender-based violence sweeping the Eastern Cape.
Enos Khalipha, 27, Asanda Simoyi 39, and Siviwe Simoyi, 35, were arrested on Thursday and appeared in the Mqanduli magistrate’s court on Monday.
Though police did not confirm the total number of suspects, the three are believed to be part of a group of 11 responsible for the killing in Rini village.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Captain Khaya Tonjeni said: “[Three] male suspects from Rini locality at Coffee Bay appeared briefly in the Mqanduli magistrate’s court facing a charge of murder after a 50-year-old woman was found deceased with stab wounds in March.”
The case was postponed to Friday.
The headman at Rini village, Christopher Masentse, and UDM MPL Mncedisi Filtane, both said another eight suspects were still at large.
“This is a clear case of genderbased violence,” Masentse said.
Masentse said the slaying was to do with the woman’s ownership of livestock, which she inherited from her late husband.
He said she had been asleep at home when she was attacked and stabbed repeatedly.
Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner lieutenantgeneral Liziwe Ntshinga commended the detectives for the arrests.
She said: “We condemn senseless attacks and killing of our women and children and we implore other men to help us fight this abhorred behaviour. The law must take its full course and justice must be served on this woman, who died at the hands of merciless killers.”
Tonjeni said the case had been referred to the organised crime investigative unit in Mthatha.
He did not respond to a query about the other eight suspects said to be at large.
Masentse said the community demanded the arrest “of the other eight soon” and there was a petition to this effect submitted in court on Monday.
Filtane, who had been briefed on the killing by local traditional leaders, said: “The UDM condemns with utter disgust the butchering and slaying of an innocent woman in her own home.
“This barbaric act happened in the midst of a national call for men to refrain from victimising innocent women and children
The slaying was to do with livestock which she inherited from her late husband
in our country. Visiting the Mapuzi police station together with local chiefs, the headman and subheadmen on June 29, where the matter was laid bare, we urged the police to do all in their power to ensure the arrest of the suspects.”
The dangers faced by women in the province were further highlighted by the discovery of the mutilated remains of a woman in Middelburg on July 12.
Nongempile Angelina Mfeka, 60, went missing in June 2019 and the discovery of mutilated remains in a drain earlier this month convinced her sister there was a connection.
Esther Waka said the family was awaiting DNA results from the police to confirm not only the identity of the body, but also blood samples found on the shoes and in the home of the suspected killer.
“My sister had a hump on her back, identical to the one on the body that was found. The shoes on the body also matched a pair that had belonged to her.”
Residents of Rosmead in Middelburg are threatening to take law in their own hands if a suspect is not arrested.
Inxuba Yethemba mayor Noncedo Zonke said: “These acts of violence have made us doubt the very foundation of our democratic society, our commitment to human rights and to human dignity, equality, peace and justice.”