The Eastern Cape Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene, has mobilised all available resources to find the perpetrators behind the killing of five people in Bityi, near Mthatha, on Friday.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) said that information on hand indicates that the family was asleep in two different houses in the same yard.
“The parents (husband and wife) were sleeping in a rondavel when two unknown males entered and fatally shot them. They [fled the] rondavel and started firing shots at the people who were sleeping in another house and fatally shot three and left two injured,” SAPS said.
The other two children, who survived the attack, managed to run away and informed the neighbours, who then alerted the police.
“Two males and three females died, while the two injured children were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment,” the SAPS said.
Police are now investigating five counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.
With the spate of violent attacks having sparked concern over the safety and security of communities in the Eastern Cape, SAPS has called on those who may have leads to come forward and assist the police in apprehending those behind the murders.
Mene has denounced the vicious acts that claimed the lives of the family in Bityi.
"I have instructed a team of seasoned detectives to hit the ground running and to work tirelessly until the culprits responsible for this senseless killing are brought to justice."
Mene has sent heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, and has wished a speedy recovery to the injured children.
This incident follows another mass murder that recently took place in Qumbu, where six people were tragically gunned down. In that incident, community policing crime patrollers were reportedly preparing for duty at their base at Lugongozo Senior Secondary School when attackers struck with an assortment of firearms.
Last month, in the same province, 18 peole lost their lives in a mass shooting after they were gunned down at two homesteads in the same street in Ngobozana village in the coastal town of Lusikisiki.
Earlier this week, four people were arrested, including 45-year-old parolee, Siphosoxolo Myekethe, in connection with the mass shooting.
On Friday, police arrested two more people and recovered high-calibre firearms. – SAnews.gov.za
