A man whose eight family members were among the victims of a deadly mass shooting that claimed the lives of 12 people at a hostel in Saulsville, has described the graphic scenes, saying his older brother had to drag dead bodies out from under the beds.
Three of his family were killed, and the other five, including the owner of the alleged illegal shebeen, survived the attack.
“He took out bodies from under the bed, pulled them out and closed their eyes. I found him bloodied, all the clothes he was wearing were full of blood,” the 26-year-old man said.
He said he did not only pull out his nephews who had been shot. Some of the people who were drinking there were his friends.
On Saturday, a pregnant woman told the Sunday Times how she had a narrow escape after hiding under a bed with a child during the shooting.
According to police, unknown gunmen entered the room in a hostel where people were drinking and started to shoot randomly. The motive is unknown.
Police have registered 12 counts of murder and 13 counts of attempted murder.
The man was in Johannesburg when he received a frantic call from his relative, and he immediately dropped everything and rushed to the scene on Saturday.
“When I entered the room, it was too much ... the whole house was full of blood. The beds and couches had blood all over. We burnt the beds because they were full of blood. Even the clothes, including those in the bags, were bloody, and you can’t wash them,” he said, describing the aftermath of the mass shooting.
Outside the hostel, remnants of burnt beds and clothing lie in ashes.
He said most of the people who were shot had more than one bullet in their bodies.
He said his sister, who owns the shebeen that police have said was ran illegally, was shot in the chest.
He said all the members of his family who were shot were sleeping and were woken by gunshots and children screaming, running and trying to hide under beds.
He described his sister as a woman trying to make a living. She had extended the hostel room, building an additional room which was used as a shebeen. This was her only source of income and she had more than eight dependents.
“She was trying to make a living for us. We are all not working, some children are still at school, they need uniforms, school transport,” he said.
Giving an update on the incident on Monday, national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola, who visited the area, said the woman will be charged with operating illegally.
Masemola confirmed that three suspects are still at large and detectives are working to find the killers.
He confirmed that one of the suspects is a parolee who was released in September and served time in prison for crimes including attempted murder and extortion.
“We are still investigating the motive, but we do have an idea of what may have led to this incident.”
Masemola said the victims are from KwaZulu-Natal and the police suspect it might be related to taxi violence or an unresolved matter stemming from their home province.
He said pistols were used in the attack and police are to verify if they were licensed.
On Monday, some family members arrived at the hostel to perform rituals to collect their loved ones’ spirits.
The Sunday Times has learnt that the owner and two other family members who were discharged from hospital on Monday afternoon are afraid to go back to the hostel due to trauma.
“The nephew cried as he entered the hostel (over the weekend), resisting to go in. I don’t think my sister will be okay,” the man said.
According to Masemola, Atteridgeville police officers have shut down 101 illegal liquor outlets since the start of the financial year in April. He said 11 of those were closed in the past four weeks, and police are intensifying operations.
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