Twelve people have been arrested in connection with the murders of five people at Inanda in Durban today. This morning, shocked community members discovered the bodies of five men who had been hacked to death and their bodies dumped in a local sports field.
Some residents said off the record that they believe the suspects were terrorising the community.
However, mother of one of the men who was hacked to death, Kholiswa Mavonya, says she is devastated. She has questioned why the community did not come to her if they suspected that her son was involved in criminal activities.
“I feel devastated and I am totally lost. I am thinking of leaving this area as this is not the first time. His father was killed in 2023 and he was killed inside the premises after that they put him into the toilet. Now it’s my son.”
VIDEO | Police lament high crime in Inanda after five bodies found:
Resident Ntokozo Dladla who was at the scene, is calling for the revival of local community structures to assist with reducing the crime rate.
“It is a sad story to see teenagers lying down on the ground, which means there is a story behind and something wrong is happening and I think police should intervene. I think the community should come together and try to have better solutions and they must communicate with the youth and tell them about safety issues and how to behave in the community. I think local forums can help a lot and even at night, we cannot walk around if there are forums because they can tell you to go back.”
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesperson, Robert Netshiunda, confirmed the arrest of 12 people.
“The team that has been together quickly managed to find people who could be behind the murders. They have been arrested in connection with those murders and they are detained. But for now we are still out there looking for more, if there are more that could be involved. We believe that it was a group of people who went to those houses kidnapped the victims and killed them.”
Deputy chairperson of the Inanda Community Policing Forum, Mbongeni Phewa, says the killings send a strong message that the community is tired of crime, abuse and the continuous killing of innocent people in the township by criminals.
“What I can say is that these criminals were chopped by the community, which was very angry because of what they are doing in the community. And that is why the community decided to go to them. It is critical, bad and sad and we are not appreciating it but we are just calling all the stakeholders who might come up with the solution. This tendency must come to an end and I can tell you that the community of Inanda is not happy in the area.”
Secretary of the eThekwini Neighbourhood Watch, Njabulo Mgeyane, shares Phewa’s sentiments.
“It is a sign of the community that is tired of being terrorised and they have decided because of the slow response from law enforcement agencies, they have had enough and it is saddening that this community has resorted to take the law into their own hands to resolve their problems.”
The suspects are expected to appear in court on Monday.
Five bodies discovered in Inanda, Durban: Njabulo Mgiyane weighs in:
