Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli warned that the town of Hlokozi, near Highflats on the South Coast, was quickly becoming a “k*lling field” after seven family members were executed there on Wednesday night.
The slaughter is thought to have been a form of vengeance for the recent m_rders reportedly perpetrated by one of the family’s sons.
Seven Khambule clan members, including three youngsters, were k*lled on Wednesday.
Bahlakaniphile Khambule, 64, was sh0t and 3along with her daughter Philile Khambule, 39, Philile’s daughter Lisa, 9, Nompilo Khambule with her boys Zemvelo, 5, and Siphosethu, 9, and Skhumbuzo Khambule (clan member).
Speaking to the media on Thursday, the family said that, just a few days prior to the m_rder, unidentified individuals had made it plain that they were there to k*ll one of the sons when they had visited the family.
Earlier in the day, the son who is married to Nompilo, one of the victims of the massacre, was taken into custody.
Giving the media facts of the shooting, Dudu Khambule said that her mother (Bahlakaniphile) had requested that Nompilo, her daughter-in-law, move out of her house and be with the entire family after she had received thre@ts from individuals who had shown up asking for her husband.
“Although we do not know the motive of the k*lling, we are aware there were people who came to my brother’s house looking for him and had made de*th thre@ts,” said Dudu.
