A group of men held a group of friends hostage and ordered them to rape each other.
When they were done with their shocking crime spree two people were shot dead.
Among their victims is a 13-year-old girl, who one of the suspects raped while her mom watched in horror.
The men shot and killed a patron at a Nkanini shebeen in Khayelitsha as well as a woman at a nearby home who refused to be raped.
The nightmare began at 9pm on Friday.
The men first ordered the shebeen patrons to get underneath the pool table and then one of the suspects went to attack the shebeen owner, Khumbuzile Sithole.
The Khayelitsha man says he tried to close the burglar gate of the shack where he sleeps but the thug repeatedly shot him in the legs.
“I recognised him from the previous time I was robbed,” Khumbuzile tells the Daily Voice.
“I tried to lock the burglar gate and while struggling with it, he shot me in my left thigh.
“I staggered back and he came inside and shot me through my shin.
“They robbed me of R480 which was in my pocket and an undisclosed amount from the till.”
Minutes later, customer Themba Hagile, 46, was killed in front of Khumbuzile.
Themba’s girlfriend Zanele Funzaphi, 42, says he went to the spaza to buy bread and airtime.
“I called him twice and he told me he’s coming back,” she says.
“The third time I called someone told me he was shot dead.”
And then, at 10pm the attackers went to a shack just metres away from the shebeen where unsuspecting friends were drinking .
There were four women and five men, and a 13-year-old girl who was sleeping in her room.
A 27-year-old woman told the Daily Voice: “A man came in alone and then stepped out and returned with his friend and they were both armed.
“One stood by the door and the other asked for the shack owner and demanded money.
“We told them we didn’t have money and they ordered my friend to undress so she could be raped by our male friend.”
She says her friend Phindiwe **, 28, refused to sleep with the guy.
“At first she had agreed to doing as she was ordered and then she changed her mind and said ‘I’d rather be shot dead than be raped by my friend’,” explained the 27-year-old woman.
“The suspect who was in the bedroom searching for money came out and shot her in the stomach and she fell.
“And they ordered me to undress and said our other male friend must rape me.”
The Harare woman says the man submitted to the order but didn’t penetrate her.
“He pretended to have sex with me but the suspect at the door noticed and he (suspect) raped me.”
One of the men raped the 13-year-old girl while her mother watched helplessly.
“I couldn’t do anything because they were pointing guns at us,” the 32-year-old mom says.
“And my neighbour was on top of me pretending to rape me.
“My daughter is still shaken by the evil deed and she keeps throwing up every time we talk about it.
“My boyfriend watched as they took advantage of us.”
The 36-year-old boyfriend says he thought the men were going to kill them after robbing them.
“I thought they were going to take our cellphones and then shoot us and go,” he said.
“But then they only shot Phindiwe, which is confusing, it seems like it was a hit.
“And the rape thing was just to humiliate everyone.”
Another victim, 48, says the friend who was instructed to rape her couldn’t get an erection: “He just put his penis on my vagina.
“The thugs didn’t see we were not having sex.”
The suspects spent an hour at the residence and left.
While the group took Phindiwe to hospital, the men broke into the her shack and stole her appliances and clothes.
Phindiwe died in hospital at around 11pm.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer November Filander on Tuesday night confirmed a case of murder and rape has been opened.
The suspects are still at large.
* This article was published in the Daily Voice
**Surname withheld to protect her friends