A notorious community-based anti-crime forum operating in several parts of the former Transkei region, yesterday handed over to the police two young men, one of whom confessed to being part of a gang which went on a crime spree raping at least six elderly women in an Elliotdale village in the past three weeks.
The two were rounded up on Sunday night by knobkerrie-wielding members of Masifunisane Association, after one of the men allegedly kicked down a door and allegedly attempted to rape another elderly woman in her Mbanyana village home.
Another two young men and a village chief were also rounded up by the association yesterday, with the two men admitting in the presence of the media that they stole goats from a homestead and had sold them to the chief.
The chief dismissed the accusations but some Masifunisane leaders claimed there were several pending stock theft cases against him.
The leaders handed the chief over to the police when they arrived in Mbanyana yesterday.
Masifunisane was thrown into the spotlight in 2014 when some people complained that they were living in fear as they had been assaulted by its members, who accused them of various crimes even though there was no evidence to backup such claims.
Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-Colonel Liziwe Ntshinga went as far as ordering the association to cease its operations in March this year, after some traditional leaders accused them of terrorising residents and taking the law into their own hands.
Yesterday, when the Daily Dispatch arrived in Mbanyana village, more than 30km outside Elliotdale, hundreds of knobkerrie-wielding Masifunisane members were questioning the two men who they accused of rape.
One of the men denied any knowledge of the rape incidents but the other gave harrowing details of how they had attacked about six elderly women.
While mentioning each of the victims by name, he also gave a detailed account of how some of the women they had targeted had escaped. In each of the accounts, the other man who denied involvement was implicated.
The two were later taken by police officers in handcuffs. But attempts to get a comment from the police drew a blank at the time of writing as Lieutenant-Colonel Zamukulungisa Jozana, who normally speaks on police matters in the area, told the Dispatch that he was no longer commenting for the area. Instead, he referred the paper to Mthatha police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena, who also would not comment on the matter.
Masifunisane chairman Tsietsi Macebo denied claims that his association was a vigilante group saying they were more of a “neighbourhood watchdog”. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Group round up men for rapes, theft
The two were rounded up on Sunday night by knobkerrie-wielding members of Masifunisane Association, after one of the men allegedly kicked down a door and allegedly attempted to rape another elderly woman in her Mbanyana village home.
Another two young men and a village chief were also rounded up by the association yesterday, with the two men admitting in the presence of the media that they stole goats from a homestead and had sold them to the chief.
The chief dismissed the accusations but some Masifunisane leaders claimed there were several pending stock theft cases against him.
The leaders handed the chief over to the police when they arrived in Mbanyana yesterday.
Masifunisane was thrown into the spotlight in 2014 when some people complained that they were living in fear as they had been assaulted by its members, who accused them of various crimes even though there was no evidence to backup such claims.
Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-Colonel Liziwe Ntshinga went as far as ordering the association to cease its operations in March this year, after some traditional leaders accused them of terrorising residents and taking the law into their own hands.
Yesterday, when the Daily Dispatch arrived in Mbanyana village, more than 30km outside Elliotdale, hundreds of knobkerrie-wielding Masifunisane members were questioning the two men who they accused of rape.
One of the men denied any knowledge of the rape incidents but the other gave harrowing details of how they had attacked about six elderly women.
While mentioning each of the victims by name, he also gave a detailed account of how some of the women they had targeted had escaped. In each of the accounts, the other man who denied involvement was implicated.
The two were later taken by police officers in handcuffs. But attempts to get a comment from the police drew a blank at the time of writing as Lieutenant-Colonel Zamukulungisa Jozana, who normally speaks on police matters in the area, told the Dispatch that he was no longer commenting for the area. Instead, he referred the paper to Mthatha police spokeswoman Captain Dineo Koena, who also would not comment on the matter.
Masifunisane chairman Tsietsi Macebo denied claims that his association was a vigilante group saying they were more of a “neighbourhood watchdog”. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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