The Eastern Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene, says she has mobilised all available resources to find the criminals responsible for the murders of five people who were killed at Bityi, west of Mthatha, on Friday night.
According to Mene, a family of five was sleeping in two separate rooms when the unknown killers entered the home.
In a rondavel, the husband and wife were sleeping, and the two unidentified men entered and shot them dead.
They started firing shots at the people who were sleeping in another house and fatally shot three, leaving two injured.
“I have instructed a team of seasoned detectives to hit the ground running and to work tirelessly until the culprits responsible for this senseless killing are brought to justice,” said Mene.
The other two children who survived the attack managed to run away and inform the neighbours, who then alerted the police.
Call to deploy soldiers to crime hotspots
One of the children is writing his final matriculation exams on Monday.
Mene said of the five, two are males and three are females, while the two injured children were taken to the hospital for treatment.
She further said while the police continue with investigating five counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, they are calling upon those who may have leads to come forward and assist them in apprehending the murderers.
She sent her condolences to the family and loved ones of the victim of this barbaric crime at the hands of ruthless criminals and wished a speedy recovery to the injured children.
This is the third mass killing to occur in the Eastern Cape over the months of September and October.
Six school patrollers were buried in a mass funeral in Tsolo over the weekend after 18 people were killed in Lusikisiki in late September.
Meanwhile, premier Oscar Mabuyane said he will approach the president to deploy the SA National Defence Force to crime hotspots in the province.
