Police have killed one suspect, arrested two others and are on the hunt for one more person following the massacre of 10 people in KwaZulu-Natal in the early hours of Friday.
According to Police Minister Bheki Cele, the suspect killed in a shootout with police was wanted for a spate of crimes. Officers found several firearms and ammunition at the scene.
Cele also expressed the need for more focus to be placed on the province, which had a history of violent crime.
Two suspects have been arrested by KZN police & one suspect shot dead following a mass shooting in PMB that led to the death of ten family members. 7 of the deceased are females while 3 are males. Three firearms have been recovered. Police are searching for the fourth suspect. pic.twitter.com/NX8r8MxDW6
— Athlenda Mathe (@AthlendaM) April 21, 2023
“KZN has grown notorious in the murder industry. We need extra concentration on KZN and we need to sit and address this at a national level where we can look at issues of resources, personnel and finances,” Cele said.
The police minister noted that in two high profile cases, the Babita Deokaran murder case and investigations into a murder at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape, some of the accused were from KZN.
He said there also needed to be communication with communities and the taxi industry.
Cele explained that the police had been following up on information after the massacre, and that four men had been conducting a ritual less than 2km away from the murder scene.
“When they saw police, they fired and police fired back. One was killed, one was injured and he was arrested and a third person was not injured and was arrested. A fourth person ran away but police know who he is,” Cele said. Police are working to establish if the ritual was related to the murders of the 10 people.
[BLOODY SCENE] A trail of blood at the scene where @SAPoliceService have cornered some suspects they believe are responsible for the family mass shooting in Pietermaritzburg that has claimed ten lives. #PMBMassKilling pic.twitter.com/In9aBSu20R
— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) April 21, 2023
[SHOCK] The community of iMbali in PMB has been left visibly shocked by the gruesome murders that took place in the early hours of Friday when gunmen entered this property and opened fire, killing seven women and three men. #PMBMassKilling pic.twitter.com/uOyiAyb7je
— Lirandzu Themba (@LirandzuThemba) April 21, 2023
Earlier, IOL reported that the massacre took place at Unit 14, Imbali, in Edendale, Plessislaer, near Pietermaritzburg. Provincial SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker confirmed that seven women and three men were killed during the shooting in which unknown gunmen stormed a Pietermaritzburg homestead and ambushed the family.
On Friday, a 17-year-old was gunned down while walking home from school in Ntshawini, near KwaDukuza (Stanger), north of Durban.
In another shooting, the chairperson of a taxi association from Seaview was shot and killed while travelling on the M7 highway in Durban on Thursday morning.
It is alleged the 34-year-old was in his car travelling in the fast lane when the driver of another car, which was travelling in the slow lane, opened fire on him, causing him to lose control of his vehicle.
IOL