Zukile Majova
Failed by the police, an Eastern Cape rural community has spent the past six months conducting a complex investigation into the murder of a young lady and ended up arresting a suspected serial killer.
The Skwateni village outside Mount Ayliff has lost nine women and girls since early 2020 who were killed and had their wombs removed.
In the latest incident on the afternoon of 19 January, the alleged killer broke into a local spaza shop, attacked Yanga Swelihashe and stabbed her twice in the neck, killing her instantly.
The 21-year-old assisted her aunt by managing the shop. The killer then ransacked the shop, stealing money, airtime and a cellphone.
When Yanga’s mother, Mama Kholeka Swelihashe, realised the police were not making progress in the case, she took it upon herself to lead a parallel investigation. She repeatedly shared information with the police.
“They kept dismissing the information we shared as being insufficient and they kept giving us a different cop every time.”
With the help of community members who were also worried about the eight unsolved murders, Mama Swelihashe contacted an IT graduate in the nearby town of Kokstad to help them track a missing cellphone.
The cellphone was tracked to Bizana, where it was being used by the woman, who claimed the phone belonged to her brother.
Mama Swelihashe said: “Six women have been killed in our village, along with three young girls. We as the people of this community normally gather firewood or fetch water from the river.
“We now live in so much fear that we now go in groups to go and get firewood.”
In the first case, a woman was attacked and killed while using a footpath that leads to the village.
Since then, the villagers have advised each other to make sure everyone got home before sunset.
But that didn’t stop the killings.
After the first incident, a mother was attacked in her home and killed along with her two girls.
The assailants then torched the property.
Village headman Siko Nqetho, who led Wednesday’s protest outside Mount Ayliff Magistrate’s Court, said the law had failed their community.
“After the police failed, we wrote a letter to the magistrate and sent a delegation of women to the court.”
“They left that letter with the magistrate.”
“We are here now to protest and oppose bail because the whole village has been living in fear.”
