Two grief-stricken community leaders have spoken out about how crime in the notorious Bhityi area near Mthatha has affected them.
They are Phikolomzi Mtirara, prince of the AbaThembu area Mqhekezweni, and the retired Methodist bishop Sizwe Nyembenye.
On Friday, Mtirara will bury his mother, Nkosikazi Nogcinile Mtirara, 72, a former schoolteacher and the wife of a highly respected traditional leader who was the grandson of the AbaThembu kingdom’s regent Jongintaba Mtirara, who raised late president Nelson Mandela as his guardian.
On Saturday, Nyembenye, 72, will bury his sister, Nonceba Timakwe, 80, a retired nursing sister who was found slain in her home.
Both women were killed on the night of October 29 in Mqhekezweni, the same night five Jongintaba Senior Secondary School pupils were raped in the village.
Mtirara is a close relative of Mandela and AbaThembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo.
Mtirara said he could not believe his mother had taken her last breath.
“This area is infested by crime and my mother was so vocal about it,” he said.
“Victims of crime — whether stock theft, domestic violence or gender-based violence — would sometimes come to her to seek refuge.”
Mtirara vowed to continue his mother’s fight against crime.
No one in Mqhekezweni and the entire Bhityi area was immune — including traditional leaders, police, lawyers, prosecutor and clergy.
“They regard nothing as sacred.
“Everyone knows the role played by my mother in this community.“Everyone knows the role played by Mqhekezweni Great Place in royal matters of AbaThembu and general politics.
“But now this home has been turned into a crime scene and the matriarch has been murdered so brutally.
“We will not surrender and never retreat from the fight for peace and stability in my father’s land.”
Nyembenye has also been vocal about crime.
“On Sunday there were serious incidents here, two murders and a mass rape.”
Nyembenye’s sister died barely seven months after Nyembenye himself was a victim of crime.
“It was in March and I was at home, not far from Mtirara royal place, when gunmen attacked my family.
“They demanded cash, guns and cellphones.
“I told them I was a church minister and my weapons were just prayer and a Bible.
“I carry and keep no guns. They shot me in the leg and stole my car. Nobody was ever arrested,” he said.
Mtirara said: “To restore our integrity and dignity as both the school and the village, all community members must work extra hard with the police to ensure that all suspects are quickly arrested.
“This is a crisis and the perpetrators must be arrested and jailed.”
Mtirara and Nyembenye said if all the Mqhekezweni community members pulled together to fight crime, if police arrested criminals and the courts sentenced them, Mqhekezweni could once again be the proud, peaceful place Nelson Mandela and Jongintaba had admired.
DispatchLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.