By Anita Dangazele
Nothing could have prepared two Eastern Cape families for the gruesome murder of their loved ones who were kidnapped from their shop last weekend.
After a weeklong search, the remains of an East London shop owner and her assistant were found in a dam near the Gcinisa farm just outside Peddie [WHEN].
Zoleka Gantana, 57, and her assistant Kholosa Mpunga, 27, were allegedly shot, their bodies dismembered and then burnt before being discarded.
The two women had lived together in Gantana’s home in Ncera Village 7, where she owned a shop. Mpunga worked as a shopkeeper at Gantana’s KwaMasithathu general dealer store.
The frantic search for the missing pair began after a neighbour and customer noticed that something was amiss. The shop had been ransacked with no one in sight.
Neighbours noticed the gate had been left wide open and the shop looted of items such as cigarettes, cold drinks and meat. Gantana and Mpunga were missing, along with Gantana’s bakkie.
Gantana’s daughter, Nobuntu, said the family initially thought it was a kidnapping for ransom, and they had hoped to receive a call from her abductors.
“We thought maybe she had been targeted since she was a business person and that maybe we’d receive a call asking for ransom. We did not expect this – it’s very painful,” she said.
The Eastern Cape Men’s Movement leader, Reverend Xolamzi Sam, has condemned the senseless killings.
“We are deeply hurt. This is the worst thing that could happen,” he said.
“Gantana was a community developer, she was a local preacher and a businesswoman. Not only the families are affected, but the communities at large.
“We are nearing August, which is supposed to be celebrating women, instead of killing women. We hope justice will be served.”
Police provincial spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said three suspects, aged between 44 and 50, were arrested on Friday near Peddie after an intensive search for the missing women.
“Investigators received information which led them to a farm where the suspects were subsequently arrested.
“During the investigation, the detectives discovered that both women were murdered with a firearm. It is alleged that their bodies were chopped, burnt and subsequently dumped into a dam near the farm at Gcinisa village,” Kinana said.
The three suspects appeared on charges of kidnapping, murder, possession of stolen property and business robbery in the East London Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
Mpunga’s family said they were still too shocked to speak to the media. However, they were relieved that the suspects had been arrested.
Pictured above: Deceased shop owner Zoleka Gantana, 57 and her assistant Kholosa Gantana, 27
Image source: Supplied
