An elderly woman and her 12-year-old grand-daughter were gunned down at their home in a suspected witchcraft killing that has left an Mthatha village reeling.
An 11-year-old boy who was shot in the upper body during the attack is fighting for his life in hospital. Police would not divulge the victim’s location due to fears for his safety.
The identities of the murdered granny and child were not released as their next-of-kin had not yet been informed.
The killers are still on the loose but police were confident yesterday they would soon be apprehended.
The 60-year old woman and her grand-daughter were both shot several times and died on the scene.
The killings occurred around 7pm on Friday at Bhityi Village near Sithebe Location.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the suspects had arrived at the house carrying firearms and asked if the elderly woman was there.
“After they were told she was present they barged into the house and started firing shots,” he said.
Police have not ruled out witchcraft as the motive for the killing, saying it would be revealed through investigations.
“At this stage we cannot say if the killings are related to witchcraft or not but once we arrest somebody, we will know why the victims were killed. “There are a lot of possibilities and we are looking at all of them,” said Fatyela.
The SAPS condemned violence perpetrated against women and children and called on all South Africans to report illegal firearms.
“These illegal firearms are used to commit crimes and are posing challenges. We plead with residents to report them so they can be taken out of circulation,” he said.
In an unrelated incident, four men aged between 25 and 40 were arrested for possession of 3.9kg of dagga worth R3900, a Norinco pistol with five rounds of ammunition and a pistol with two rounds of ammunition.
Both serial numbers on the firearms had been filed off and the weapons have been sent for ballistic testing to establish if they had been used in other criminal activities.
The suspects were arrested near Cochlan on the R61 between Ngcobo and Mthatha around 3pm on Saturday. They are aged between 25 and 40 years of age and were driving a Toyota Corolla reported stolen in Sterkstroom earlier.
They were due to appear in Ngcobo Magistrate Court today.
Meanwhile, police have also asked for help to trace thieves who stole 31 head of sheep in Malepelepe Village near Tsolo on Friday. — loyisom@dispatch.co.za
Bhityi gogo and grand-daughter gunned down
An 11-year-old boy who was shot in the upper body during the attack is fighting for his life in hospital. Police would not divulge the victim’s location due to fears for his safety.
The identities of the murdered granny and child were not released as their next-of-kin had not yet been informed.
The killers are still on the loose but police were confident yesterday they would soon be apprehended.
The 60-year old woman and her grand-daughter were both shot several times and died on the scene.
The killings occurred around 7pm on Friday at Bhityi Village near Sithebe Location.
Mthatha police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the suspects had arrived at the house carrying firearms and asked if the elderly woman was there.
“After they were told she was present they barged into the house and started firing shots,” he said.
Police have not ruled out witchcraft as the motive for the killing, saying it would be revealed through investigations.
“At this stage we cannot say if the killings are related to witchcraft or not but once we arrest somebody, we will know why the victims were killed. “There are a lot of possibilities and we are looking at all of them,” said Fatyela.
The SAPS condemned violence perpetrated against women and children and called on all South Africans to report illegal firearms.
“These illegal firearms are used to commit crimes and are posing challenges. We plead with residents to report them so they can be taken out of circulation,” he said.
In an unrelated incident, four men aged between 25 and 40 were arrested for possession of 3.9kg of dagga worth R3900, a Norinco pistol with five rounds of ammunition and a pistol with two rounds of ammunition.
Both serial numbers on the firearms had been filed off and the weapons have been sent for ballistic testing to establish if they had been used in other criminal activities.
The suspects were arrested near Cochlan on the R61 between Ngcobo and Mthatha around 3pm on Saturday. They are aged between 25 and 40 years of age and were driving a Toyota Corolla reported stolen in Sterkstroom earlier.
They were due to appear in Ngcobo Magistrate Court today.
Meanwhile, police have also asked for help to trace thieves who stole 31 head of sheep in Malepelepe Village near Tsolo on Friday. — loyisom@dispatch.co.za
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