Community cooperation and police efforts pivotal in arrest of Lusikisiki massacre suspects
Durban — The SAPS Board Ugu District Community Policing Forum has welcomed the arrest of suspects allegedly involved in the Lusikisiki massacre at an informal settlement which is home to thousands of migrant workers from the Eastern Cape and elsewhere.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said an intelligence-led operation by the Port Shepstone K9 and Public Order Policing officers successfully arrested three suspects wanted for the killing of 18 people in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape, in the early hours of Wednesday, October 16.
Netshiunda said a community member tipped off police that the wanted suspects were hiding at a rented accommodation at Mkholombe informal settlement in Port Shepstone.
“A swift operation was put in motion and the three suspects, aged 22, 24 and 31 years old were arrested,” Netshiunda said.
“The operation is ongoing with police searching for a firearm which the suspects allegedly used in the commission of the crime.”
Reacting, deputy chairperson of the SAPS Board Ugu District CPF Selvan Chetty, said the CPF welcomes the arrest of the suspects allegedly involved in the Lusikisiki massacre.
“We commend the tireless efforts by the national, provincial and district SAPS officials towards making a breakthrough in what can only be described as one of the worst incidents of violent crimes in recent years,” Chetty said.
“We are also grateful to members of the public for their cooperation that led to the suspects being apprehended.”
Chetty continued: “The suspects have been arrested in the Mkholombe informal settlement in Port Shepstone which is home to thousands of migrant workers from the Eastern Cape and elsewhere. They thought that this was an ideal place to hide away.”
Chetty added that the CPF encourages the public to report any suspicious persons and activities to the SAPS. They can even do so anonymously.
Meanwhile, also on Wednesday, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola thanked South Africans for providing information on the whereabouts of the wanted suspects in the Lusikisiki mass murders.
They are, 20-year-old Songezo ‘Mashiya’ Vuma, 31-year-old Bonga ‘Rico’ Hintsa, 25-year-old Aphiwe ‘AP’ Ndende and 31-year-old Lwando Anthony ‘Abi’ Shakes.
Masemola confirmed that in less than 24 hours from the time the SAPS issued an alert on the wanted suspects, communities rallied together and informed police on their whereabouts.
He said all four suspects are now in police custody.
“To those who shared the pictures of these suspects on social media, to all the journalists and media houses that played their watchdog role, we are indebted to you. This is what the SAPS can achieve when the whole country rallies behind our men and women in blue. We thank you South Africa for assisting us to stamp the authority of the state,” Masemola said.
Additionally, Siphosoxolo Myekethe, 45, who was arrested earlier in connection with the incident, appeared in the Lusikisiki Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday where he abandoned his application for bail.
Myekethe is a convicted killer who was out on parole during the alleged commission of the crime.
It is alleged that on September 28, 17 people were shot dead in Ngobozana village in Lusikisiki, Eastern Cape.
The killings took place at two homesteads on the same street in the early hours of the morning.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said that in the first homestead, four people were shot dead, with no survivors. In the second homestead, there were nineteen people in two different houses in the same yard. Thirteen people were shot and killed. Six people survived (four women and one man) including a two-month old baby. Fifteen women and two men were killed.
Police later confirmed the 18th victim died in the hospital on September 29.
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