LISTEN | More arrests imminent: Cops cast net wide in hunt for ‘mastermind’ of Lusikisiki massacre, other suspects

Police are preparing to make more arrests, possibly in prison, for being involved in the massacre which claimed 18 lives at Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape. 

Police minister Senzo Mchunu and national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola provided an update on the investigation during a media briefing in parliament on Thursday.  

Mchunu said police had received information that the mass murder had been planned behind bars. “Sometimes we get information, but there is always the need to translate that into concrete evidence,” he said.

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“There is a story like that. Up until it gets confirmed and becomes a fact, we will then be able to say so ... But it’s important to note this, and there is something we are doing about it.” 

Mchunu told the police portfolio committee in parliament on Wednesday that the suspected mastermind had orchestrated the killings from inside prison.

Masemola said on Thursday police had confiscated a vehicle linked to one suspects who is on the run. He said police had arrested three suspects in Port Shepstone and another in East London. 

“With regard to the murder of the 18 people in Lusikisiki, you will recall that there is one suspect — an accused by now — that appeared in court this week,” he said.  

“We arrested three suspects yesterday, in the early hours of the morning, in Port Shepstone, and we arrested one in East London yesterday [Wednesday] morning. So in total, we have four who will appear in court tomorrow.” 

Masemola said one suspect is still on the run.

“We were able to seize his vehicle. We have cast the net wide. We are still looking at possibilities of linking other people to this specific case. We are looking at further arrests at correctional services.” 

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