Eastern Cape police are offering a R250 000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the killers of 17 women and children in Tholeni Village in Butterworth.
Only two murderers had been arrested and convicted so far, said Captain Jackson Manatha.
He said 45-year-old Nkosomzi Kungwayo was sentenced to eight years in jail in 2008 for the murder of Sibongile Nqambi, 43.
Mqwalaseli Mabhayi, 33, received two life terms in 2009 for killing 70-year-old Ntombomzi Gubevu and her 13-year-old granddaughter Nonelwa Gubevu.
Manatha said police believed residents could help them make arrests in the 10 cases – the most recent of which was opened last month when a woman was killed in her home.
He said the victims were attacked in their homes at night. The attacks started in 2007.
“Most of them were hacked with something like an axe while asleep,” he said, adding that the motive for the killings was not known. – Sapa