AbaThembu King condemns brutal murder of seven family members in Mthatha

AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo has condemned the brutal killings in the Bityi area outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape. He has described last week’s killing of seven members of the Mgxada family as barbaric.

“It started with three boys killed in a brutal manner and they were found almost rotten, it’s a sick nation that does that. This is not just a group of sick people or a sick individual, it’s a nation that is in desperation, it is the nation that needs to come together and come to do something about social ills,” says Dalindyebo.

Seven family members gunned down in Mthatha:

The brutal mass killing of seven Mgxada family members while mourning for their relative at Thantseka village in Bityi outside Mthatha in the Eastern Cape has sparked fear and panic among residents. Many women and children are no longer sleeping at their homes as they fear for their lives.

The terrified women, that wanted to remain anonymous, had this to say:

“When women are being killed, when women and gunned down in a brutal way. Doors being kicked, the whole family being killed, this is a new tendency, we are not used to this kind of criminality. Our life has dramatically changed, we are living a life of a chicken running away from the hawks.”

“Now our children are being raped, they kick the door and when bedtime comes, we are afraid because we do not know what is going to happen. Every day we pray for the sun not to go down, we need help from the government, we need protection.”

Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane has written a letter to Police Minister Bheki Cele for his intervention at the crime infested Bityi area.

“It’s easy now that all of a sudden people can show guns at random and these are guns that are all over. We have agreed with the police, I have written a letter to the Minister of Police that we need an urgent meeting to look at the situation. The Eastern Cape has reached a point where we need national material support, in terms of resources, in terms of police, in term terms of the functioning of our police stations and in terms of police visibility,” says Mabuyane.

Seven family members killed in Eastern Cape: