By Sifiso Sibandze
South African Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, claims a Swazi Inyanga is linked to the mass murder of 10 family members of Petermarisburg, KwaZulu-Natal on Friday morning.
Cele made this claim when addressing the media from the crime scene of Friday afternoon, where he said the Eswatini Inyanga was the one who reportedly influenced the killing after performing some cleansing ritual on the suspected killers.
Cele said they were given the name of the Swazi Inyanga by one of the suspects who was nabbed after a fears shootout with the police ensued at a Mbatha homestead situated about 1.5 kilometres from the homestead where the 10 family members were shot dead.
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“As police were attending to the crime scene, they received some information that there were people who were doing some cleansing about 1.5 kilometres away from the crime scene and the police went to see that cleansing scene and in that act,” Cele said.
“When they approached the Mbatha homestead, they saw four people at the home who were standing outside as the police approached, these people started shooting at the police and the police reiterated with fire, shooting one to death, one got injured and nabbed, and one ran away. Fortunately, we know who ran away. One of the suspects confirmed that they were doing some cleansing and gave us a name of an Inyanga from Swaziland,” Cele added.
This shocking family murder prompted Cele and the top management of the South African Police Service (SAPS) led by the National Commissioner Fannie Masemola to descend on the KwaZulu-Natal province.
In a statement, the Police Ministry Spokesperson Lirandzu Themba detailed how during the KZN family ambush 10 members of the same family were fatally wounded, the youngest of the victims was a 13-year-old boy.
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Hours after the attack at the family home, a police manhunt ensued for the suspects responsible for the deadly shooting.
“Police officers acted with agility on their intelligence, coupled with information from the community on the possible whereabouts of some of those responsible for the heinous crime. Less than two kilometres away, a shootout ensued when police confronted four men participating in a ‘cleansing ceremony’ conducted by a traditional healer,” stated Themba.
Police arrested two of the four suspects, one is under police guard at a hospital after sustaining injuries during the shootout with police. One suspect escaped while another was fatally shot; a criminal linked to numerous other crimes in the area has been sought after by police. Three firearms were also found at the scene.