By MALIBONGWE DAYIMANI, LULAMILE FENI and SIKHO NTSHOBANE
After yesterday’s swift detention of several people believed to be part of a gang that gunned down five police officers and a retired soldier in Ngcobo, the net is closing in on other suspects, with the police saying they are following strong leads.
The national team tasked with tracking down the Ngcobo police station killers brought a few people in for questioning after they allegedly produced names that did not correspond with their IDs when they checked in at a Komani bed and breakfast. The owner alerted the police, who responded swiftly.
Constable Kuhle Mathetha, 27, of Cofimvaba, Warrant Officer Zuko Mbini, 45, of Zimbane Valley in Mthatha, Constable Zuko Ntsheku, 38, of Luhewini in Ngcobo, Constable Nkosiphendule Pongco, 32, of Ngqeleni, and Constable Sibongiseni Sandlana, 32, of Qunu near Mthatha, were killed on Wednesday after unknown gunmen opened fire at the police station and took 10 guns.
The families of the dead officers were still trying to come to terms with their loss when police bosses visited them yesterday.
Some of the victims were the family’s sole breadwinners and one had only just graduated from the Bhisho police academy.
Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Major-General Liziwe Ntshinga visited slain Constable Kuhle Mathetha’s family in Ncorha in Ngcobo yesterday.
She led a high-level police delegation to the Mathetha family, where she described the slain officers as national heroes.
“Kuhle’s mother, don’t worry.”
“We didn’t sleep the whole night searching for these thugs. Kuhle and the four other officers are national heroes.
“Their killing will not be in vain,” she told a packed room of grieving family members, and vowed that the perpetrators would be found.
Mathetha’s aunt, Nontsikelelo Mathetha-Ngxola, described her fallen nephew as a true patriot, who did not enlist in the SA Police Service as the last resort.
“He always wanted to be a policeman and serve his country. He dropped out of university where he was doing IT in KwaZulu-Natal to join the force.
“He was very passionate about the police. He loved his job and would always jokingly say we must call him by his police rank even at home,” she said.
Mathetha graduated from the Bhisho police college in January.
Mathetha-Ngxola said they last saw him last week when he came home to borrow his father’s car so that he could drive to Mthatha to get his police uniform.
“We are heartbroken. If it was possible I would die in his place because this beautiful boy didn’t deserve to die at such a young age and the way he died.
“He was a loving and trustworthy boy with a good sense of humour. He was such a good cook,” she said.
Mathetha-Ngxola heaped praise on the police for their swift work.
“We are happy and we would like to salute SAPS for the good job they are doing and the support they have given to this Mathetha family. Both national and provincial management visited us and they didn’t overlook us just because we live in remote areas. They came to pay their respects,” she said.
At Luhewini Ntsheku’s mother, Nobesuthu Ntsheku, said her son was the breadwinner and the first of seven children.
“We depended on him for everything. He was feeding us, clothing us and was the one paying for the schooling of all these children. We are devastated. My heart is broken.
“Who is going to look after us now? Why did my son die like this? He did not deserve this,” said the mother.
He was one of the two officers shot and dumped near Nyanga High School, about 6km from the police station.
His uncle Luke described his nephew as the pillar that held the family together. Ntsheku was not married but had two children.
He joined the police in 2009 in Milnerton in the Western Cape before transferring to Mthatha Central police station in October 2015, and then Ngcobo in April 2016.
Pongco’s family cried uncontrollably when police head of personnel Brigadier Thobeka Kunene visited the family.
Pongco was the breadwinner. His sisters, Nowinti and Ntombonina, said they hoped the killers would be sentenced to life in jail.
They last saw Pongco at the weekend at home.
In Zimbane Valley, the Mbini family was too distraught to speak. He is survived by his wife and two children. But their neighbour Manduleli Ngwilikane said he wished the killers would be sentenced to death if there was still a death penalty.
Sandlana’s uncle, Reverend Zibonele Sandlana, who had accompanied acting abaThembu King Azenathi Dalindyebo when the monarch visited the station, described his nephew as the family’s pillar.
A woman police officer who was forced at gunpoint by the assailants to open all the safes with the guns and pack them in a bag is receiving counselling in East London.
“They were shouting ‘Where are the keys? Shut up don’t make a noise’,” an insider said.
Provincial police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni said: “I can confirm we’ve taken four for questioning. The investigation is at an advanced but sensitive stage. We don’t want to create unnecessary excitement and tensions but we are following very strong leads.”
Postmortems will be done today and there will be a memorial service at the Methodist Church in Ngcobo on Tuesday. — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za/ lulamilef@dispatch.co.za/ sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Four suspects detained in Ngcobo massacre manhunt
After yesterday’s swift detention of several people believed to be part of a gang that gunned down five police officers and a retired soldier in Ngcobo, the net is closing in on other suspects, with the police saying they are following strong leads.
The national team tasked with tracking down the Ngcobo police station killers brought a few people in for questioning after they allegedly produced names that did not correspond with their IDs when they checked in at a Komani bed and breakfast. The owner alerted the police, who responded swiftly.
Constable Kuhle Mathetha, 27, of Cofimvaba, Warrant Officer Zuko Mbini, 45, of Zimbane Valley in Mthatha, Constable Zuko Ntsheku, 38, of Luhewini in Ngcobo, Constable Nkosiphendule Pongco, 32, of Ngqeleni, and Constable Sibongiseni Sandlana, 32, of Qunu near Mthatha, were killed on Wednesday after unknown gunmen opened fire at the police station and took 10 guns.
The families of the dead officers were still trying to come to terms with their loss when police bosses visited them yesterday.
Some of the victims were the family’s sole breadwinners and one had only just graduated from the Bhisho police academy.
Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Major-General Liziwe Ntshinga visited slain Constable Kuhle Mathetha’s family in Ncorha in Ngcobo yesterday.
She led a high-level police delegation to the Mathetha family, where she described the slain officers as national heroes.
“Kuhle’s mother, don’t worry.”
“We didn’t sleep the whole night searching for these thugs. Kuhle and the four other officers are national heroes.
“Their killing will not be in vain,” she told a packed room of grieving family members, and vowed that the perpetrators would be found.
Mathetha’s aunt, Nontsikelelo Mathetha-Ngxola, described her fallen nephew as a true patriot, who did not enlist in the SA Police Service as the last resort.
“He always wanted to be a policeman and serve his country. He dropped out of university where he was doing IT in KwaZulu-Natal to join the force.
“He was very passionate about the police. He loved his job and would always jokingly say we must call him by his police rank even at home,” she said.
Mathetha graduated from the Bhisho police college in January.
Mathetha-Ngxola said they last saw him last week when he came home to borrow his father’s car so that he could drive to Mthatha to get his police uniform.
“We are heartbroken. If it was possible I would die in his place because this beautiful boy didn’t deserve to die at such a young age and the way he died.
“He was a loving and trustworthy boy with a good sense of humour. He was such a good cook,” she said.
Mathetha-Ngxola heaped praise on the police for their swift work.
“We are happy and we would like to salute SAPS for the good job they are doing and the support they have given to this Mathetha family. Both national and provincial management visited us and they didn’t overlook us just because we live in remote areas. They came to pay their respects,” she said.
At Luhewini Ntsheku’s mother, Nobesuthu Ntsheku, said her son was the breadwinner and the first of seven children.
“We depended on him for everything. He was feeding us, clothing us and was the one paying for the schooling of all these children. We are devastated. My heart is broken.
“Who is going to look after us now? Why did my son die like this? He did not deserve this,” said the mother.
He was one of the two officers shot and dumped near Nyanga High School, about 6km from the police station.
His uncle Luke described his nephew as the pillar that held the family together. Ntsheku was not married but had two children.
He joined the police in 2009 in Milnerton in the Western Cape before transferring to Mthatha Central police station in October 2015, and then Ngcobo in April 2016.
Pongco’s family cried uncontrollably when police head of personnel Brigadier Thobeka Kunene visited the family.
Pongco was the breadwinner. His sisters, Nowinti and Ntombonina, said they hoped the killers would be sentenced to life in jail.
They last saw Pongco at the weekend at home.
In Zimbane Valley, the Mbini family was too distraught to speak. He is survived by his wife and two children. But their neighbour Manduleli Ngwilikane said he wished the killers would be sentenced to death if there was still a death penalty.
Sandlana’s uncle, Reverend Zibonele Sandlana, who had accompanied acting abaThembu King Azenathi Dalindyebo when the monarch visited the station, described his nephew as the family’s pillar.
A woman police officer who was forced at gunpoint by the assailants to open all the safes with the guns and pack them in a bag is receiving counselling in East London.
“They were shouting ‘Where are the keys? Shut up don’t make a noise’,” an insider said.
Provincial police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni said: “I can confirm we’ve taken four for questioning. The investigation is at an advanced but sensitive stage. We don’t want to create unnecessary excitement and tensions but we are following very strong leads.”
Postmortems will be done today and there will be a memorial service at the Methodist Church in Ngcobo on Tuesday. — malibongwed@dispatch.co.za/ lulamilef@dispatch.co.za/ sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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