@scrollaafrica Extortion gang terror in Mthatha! Vuyokazi Mbingeleli shares her tragic story—home burned, son shot, and no police action. #News #Police #Crime #SouthAfrica ♬ original sound Scrolla.Africa
By Anita Dangazele
A woman from Chris Hani Location, Mthatha West, whose home was allegedly torched and her son shot by an extortion gang, has spoken out about her ordeal.
Vuyokazi Mbingeleli claims that Mthatha west Chief Sakhumzi Dalinzolo Mareke and his associates violently attack them after she refused to pay them a “protection fee” in October last year.
Mbingeleli said she was appointed as a herdwoman in the area by Abathembu King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo.
“The trouble started when Mareke and his gang started demanding a protection fee from me and my community. I refused to pay it and I told the residents they mustn’t pay this protection fee. They came to kill me in my house but I called my neighbours and that’s how I survived,” she said.
She said she ran away to her sister’s house in Komani and stayed there for a while.
“When I was coming back to Mthatha I told one of my neighbours and that Friday those men were in my house again,” said Mbingeleli.
“Luckily, I wasn’t there but they found my son and shot him four times. He managed to run away and so they burnt my house down to the ground.”
At a media briefing on Sunday, Mbingeleli revealed to top police officials how she was later threatened by a police officer after the attack.
“I’m living with so much anger because law in Mthatha takes its time. You can report anything to the police in Mthatha but it will drag on without action. I’m a single mother, and I was shot at with my children and the police did nothing to help me,” she said.
“I opened the case on 11 October 2023 and the police came, but they never followed up. On 18 October my house was burnt down and my son shot in the process.”
She said she called the Mthatha Central Police station but the police didn’t come.
“The following day, a Sector Manager named Bebeza came to my house and threatened me,” she told the briefing.
“He asked why the king would appoint people without their approval. He told me that I must watch myself.”
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola met with Mbingeleli privately after the media briefing.
She told Newzroom Afrika that Masemola and Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner Nomthetheleli Mene had promised to protect her and her children while investigating her complaints.
Pictured above: Chris Hani herdwoman Vuyokazi Mbingeleli addressing a police media briefing at PRD Building in Mthatha on Sunday.
Source: Supplied.
