“We know their names and surnames. We know who we are looking for.”
Police minister Senzo Mchunu has assured the grieving families and terrified neighbours in Ngobozana village, Lusikisiki, that a breakthrough in arresting those behind the weekend massacre of 18 people in the area is imminent.
Mchunu visited Ngobozana with Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha, national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola and other officials.
“Calm down and enjoy your sleep. Do not worry about anything,” Mchunu said.
“We are here following leads. The police are not going to sleep until they catch those responsible.”
On Monday, relatives of the victims said they wanted to sell or demolish their homes in Ngobozana and would never return, even promising to exhume the remains of other relatives already buried there.
A baby who was among the few survivors of the massacre is in the care of social workers. Two wounded people were admitted to hospital.
Masemola said on Tuesday a man had been taken in for questioning but was later released.
In the aftermath of the massacre — carried out by unidentified gunmen who targeted two homesteads in the early hours of Saturday — the families of the victims and their neighbours spoke about crime in Ngobozana, saying the sound of gunshots could be heard every night.
Despite the village being less than 5km from the new state-of-the-art Lusikisiki police station, they claimed they lived like “chickens ready to be slaughtered”. This was because calls to the police station usually went unanswered.
On Tuesday, Nqatha said: “The question provincial commissioner [Lt-Gen Nomthetheli Mene] will have to answer is why villages such as Ngobozana feel unsafe, given the proximity to the police station.”
Enough is enough. We want the police to focus on catching criminals and protecting our communities
— Senzo Mchunu, police minister
The station had been provided with sufficient resources and been elevated to brigadier level, he added.
The multimillion-rand facility was opened to much fanfare by then police minister Fikile Mbalula just more than five years ago.
Mchunu promised all issues raised would be looked into.
The national government would also ensure the station was supplied with advanced technology to tackle criminals head-on.
He said the massacre shocked South Africa and those behind it “did not deserve to be called human beings”. But the police could not fight crime alone.
Criminals live in the same communities as law-abiding citizens and these people need to come forward and report them. The police would do the rest.
Mabuyane told Mchunu it did not matter whether the shooters were found dead or alive.
“Enough is enough. We want the police to focus on catching criminals and protecting our communities. The soldiers can camp and look after the projects.”
Nkosinathi Mhatu, a relative of many of the 18 victims, said they had been buoyed to see national and provincial government ministers, leaders and other officials in their homes in their hour of need.
“We are comforted and uplifted that they have prioritised us and our pain,” he said. He described Ngobozana as a jungle and a war zone where drugs and alcohol were consumed in worrying quantities, while children did not go to school.
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