An Eastern Cape village was rocked by three murders within minutes of each other when two gunmen opened fire inside two homes in Centane on Tuesday night.
Three women in two households situated next door to each other were killed in Kwetshe Location in Ngunduza at about 9pm.
Police spokesperson Captain Jackson Manatha said the gunmen entered the first house and opened fire on a 45-year-old woman, who was at home with her two young sons.
“One of the youngsters hid under the bed and the other ran away,” he said.
The woman died at the scene.
The two attackers then went to the house next door, where they shot a 60-year-old woman and her 49-year-old daughter.
“Two 6-year-old boys saw what happened and both ran off. They went to tell the elders in the neighbourhood that their granny and mother had been shot,” Manatha confirmed.
Both women had been shot in their upper bodies and died in the home.
In both instances, nothing was stolen from the scene.
Manatha said police had not yet determined a motive for the murders.
No arrests have yet been made, although detectives were following “strong leads“, he added.
Eastern Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga on Wednesday said officers would “work around the clock to trace the perpetrators“. She added that she condemned the murders “in the strongest way“.
“We will not allow callous criminals to target the most vulnerable in our society. I have before and again urged our rural communities to urgently come together with local station commanders, community police forums and chiefs or headmen to discuss ways and means to assist each other to better protect our elderly women.”
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