Residents of Majola at Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape still live in fear despite numerous interventions by the government to curb the ongoing conflict at the village.
The violence has claimed a number of lives over the past few months and more than 50 homesteads have been torched.
Women and children have fled into the surrounding forests to escape the attacks. An inter-denominational prayer service was held today, organized by the police, as part of a plan to bring peace to the village.
A victim of the attacks, Nokuthula Sthunzi says she has been sleeping in the forest since 2021.
“Our homes have not been built yet since 2021. I have eight children. I was left with nothing. That is very bad because we don’t know whether our government has deserted us. Even this child on my back was born in the forest. He’s two years old now and he grew up in the forest,” says Sthunzi.
Various police units have been deployed to patrol the area. Acting Eastern Cape police commissioner Zithulele Dladla believes the interventions have yielded good results.
“We’ve made a lot of arrests here. There are people that have been arrested and one of them made a confession and a pointing out where he was involved in more than four cases of different cases of murders and arson. So, we are making inroads with regards to interventions and in terms of investigation and we also continue to deploy our forces in the area of Majola,” says Dladla.
VIDEO: Residents of Majola pray for peace amid ongoing violence
