Cops seek person of interest in Tsomo slayings

Eastern Cape police are looking for a person they believe can assist them in their investigations into a bizarre triple slaying in Tsomo.

Buyelwa Malila, 71, Asemahle Mtsorha, 16, and Athenkosi Zondi, 17, were last seen on the night of December 1 at Malila's  home in Lower Tsojana, near Tsomo.

Their bodies were found floating in the Mhlahlane River on Saturday.

They had been manacled with chains.

''There is a person we are looking for and we think he can assist our investigation into this matter so we come up with desired results,' provincial police spokesperson  Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said on Monday.

Kinana said the two teenage girls were not  sisters, but Asemahle was their neighbour’s daughter.

Athenkosi was pregnant, so her grandmother asked Asemahle to sleep over so that her granddaughter  had the support of her friend, Kinana said.    

Kinana  called on the public to assist them in tracking down the killer or killers, saying anyone with information was urged to contact the nearest police station.

Kinana said police had not yet received the outcome of the postmortems and he could not say whether the women had been raped or not.

''This will only be determined by the postmortem,'' Kinana said.

 Police would deal harshly with people involved in gender-based violence, he said.

''We make a profound warning that we will not tolerate people hell-bent on abusing women and children.

“We will stop such sinister action.”