Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga told SABC news today that police have arrested six men at Mpheni Villages in Mt Ayliff. This comes after the police intensified its operations following the killing of about eight villagers on Christmas day. “We are now busy charging them for Public Violence, Murder and for Domestic Violence because there is also one woman who was also killed”, said Provincial Commissioner Ntshinga.
Police Provincial Spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana in a statement said today Lt. General Ntshinga led the operations in person in the Mountains of this area. He said all forces are on the ground in search of other suspects believed to have been involved in the fierce fighting between the two groups.
In May this year, the informer newspaper reported about the infighting of two groups in the transport industry operating in the area. As reports are also coming out now that this fight is suspected to be taxi violence the same was reported then. It was reported that Taxi owners operating at Pakade between Mt Ayliff and Kokstad prevented van owners who are ferrying passengers from Mpeni and Nokhatshile Villages to Kokstad. To counter that van owners from these villages decided to take the passengers to Harding, another nearest town for them. This did not go down well with taxi owners as a consequence it is alleged that a group of them went to Mpheni village to prevent the vans from taking people to Harding by blocking the road. In that incident, one taxi was burned to ashes by villagers, and a man suspected to be a taxi owner was killed.
SABC News reports today that a number of villagers have left their homes to hide in the nearest forests and those who are still at their homes are afraid to speak.
Police are appealing to anyone with information on the whereabout of the suspects to please inform the nearest police station or call the crime stop number 0860010111.
