King AbaThembu Buyelehaya Dalindyeba has condemned the brutal killings in the Biti area outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. He called the killing of seven members of Mghad’s family last week barbaric.
“It started with three boys being brutally killed and found almost rotten, this is a sick nation that does this. It’s not just a group of sick people or a sick person, it’s a nation in despair, it’s a nation that needs to come together and come to do something about social ills,” Dalindyeba says.
Seven family members killed in Mtat:
The brutal massacre of seven members of the Mghada family while mourning a relative in Tanzeka village in Biti outside Mtata in the Eastern Cape has sparked fear and panic among residents. Many women and children no longer sleep in their homes because they fear for their lives.
The terrified women, who wished to remain anonymous, had this to say:
“When women are killed, when women are brutally shot. They break down the door, kill the whole family, this is a new trend, we are not used to this kind of crime. Our life has changed radically, we live like a chicken running away from hawks.”
“Now our children are raped, doors are kicked, and when they come to sleep, we are afraid because we don’t know what will happen. Every day we pray that the sun does not set, we need the help of the state, we need protection.”
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has written to Police Minister Bheka Chele asking him to intervene in the crime-ridden Biti area.
“It’s easy now that all of a sudden people can randomly show a gun and it’s a gun that’s everywhere. We agreed with the police, I wrote a letter to the police minister that an urgent meeting was needed to understand the situation. The Eastern Cape has reached a point where we need national material support in terms of resources, in terms of policing, in terms of the functioning of our police stations and in terms of the visibility of the police,” says Mabuyane.
Seven family members died in the Eastern Cape: