The families of the 18 victims shot dead in Ngobozana village in Lusikisiki at the weekend are too terrified to return there — even for their funerals.
Sinqina family spokesperson Lonwabo Sinqina said: “Nobody is safe here, not even the dead.
“We are planning to exhume all these graves and demolish or sell the houses.
“Twenty people have been shot dead here.”
The family wants the victims buried at their ancestral home in Lambasi.
Two victims are still in hospital.
Sinqina said all the victims were relatives and friends of the family.
“But as the Sinqina family alone we have lost nine family members or relatives.
“Two are sisters and their children and grandchildren as well as cousins.
“The homes of these sisters, Mary and Nancy, have been almost wiped out and so is the family of their sister who was killed in August last year.”
The two sisters who died on Saturday are Mary Sinqina and Nancy Sinqina-Mhatu, who are neighbours.
Mary was unmarried and Nancy, a widow, had married into the Mhatu family.
A third sister, Nomnikelo Sinqina, and her niece, Zinzi, who was Mary’s daughter, were shot dead in August 2023 at the Nomnikelo homestead, which is in the same street as the two other sisters’ homes.
No arrests have been made in any of the incidents.
Over the past week, people converged at Mary and Nancy’s homesteads as they were preparing for a traditional ceremony to officially end the mourning period for the two 2023 killings.
Four people were killed at Nancy’s home and 14 at Mary’s. Both lost all their children in the shooting.
Mhatu family spokesperson Nkosinathi Mhatu said all four Mhatu family members would be buried in Xhurhana village, also in Lusikisiki.
“All the family of my younger brother have been wiped out, with not a single person left.”
On Monday, the Mhatu family was removing all the furniture and other goods from their home.
“We have already informed traditional leaders and authorities that we are now selling the homestead. The whole family is killed and nobody will remain.”
Ingquza Hill mayor Nonkosi Pepping said that they, together with the OR Tambo district municipality and the provincial government, were preparing to help the families give the victims a decent send-off.
Arrangements for the government-sponsored funerals will be done in consultation with the families, the government, traditional and business leaders.
President Cyril Ramaphosa sent his condolences.
He assured the families that police had “mobilised maximum resources to ensure the perpetrators are brought to book”.
Ramaphosa said: “While we are united in our grief, we are also united in our outrage and condemnation of this excessive criminal assault, which will not go unpunished.”
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