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Mother of slain Khayelitsha teenager speaks out

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The mother of one of the murdered women in Khayelitsha says she cannot think of anyone who would want to harm her daughter.

Seventeen-year-old Unam Bless was shot dead with her friends 21-year-old Zintle Sigede and 20-year-old Siyasanga Ngasele at TT Informal Section.

Unam’s mother Nontobeko Bless says the Grade 10 learner was a good person who never left home without informing her.

She says, “I was not around when she left, they were playing music in the back room. They locked the door before they left, I don’t know where they left to. She left with her friends. I was called to the scene later that day. When I asked why I was told Unam was shot. I asked why. I went there to the section because I wanted to see for myself .”

VIDEO: Police initiate 72-hour action plan to find killers of three women in Khayelitsha:

Crime Stats

The Crime Statistics for the 1st Quarter of this financial year 2021/2022 revealed that in the three months of reporting, a 66,2 % increase in murder was recorded.

However, compared to the previous normal period of the 2019/2020 financial year, the murder rate would have increased by 6.7%.

Between April 2021 to end of June 2021, 5 760 people were killed in South Africa.

This is 2 294 more people killed compared to the corresponding period in the previous financial year.

Compared to a period without Lockdown, it would result in an increase of 362 more deaths.

Out of the Top 30 murder stations, the Khayelitsha, Phillipi East and Bityi police stations in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape recorded decreases in their murder figures.

But despite these drops, the volumes of murder remain high.

Police Minister Bheki Cele released the quarterly crime statistics in August:

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