EMqhekezweni, a homeland of the Queen Mother of the Great place. Getty image
(The Post News)– The Department of Education has acknowledged a disturbing event in which six matric learners were allegedly raped and robbed yesterday, at eMqhekezweni, near Mthatha. The pupils were staying in rented housing near their school at the time of the incident. Two men came through the window while eight learners sleeping. It is alleged that the men were armed with a gun.
The Post News can confirm that six pupils who were raped were grade 12 learners who were supposed to be writing IsiXhosa today. They could not write because they were afraid and still in shock.
Reverend Sizwe, Chairperson of Jongintaba Secondary School’s School Governing Body (SGB), describes eMqhekezweni, which is about a kilometer distant from the school, as a dangerous place. Learners avoid the region due to a high rate of rape and robbery. “I did my best to discuss the crime with officials, but the Provincial Commissioner dispatched only young policemen with sticks, no proper weapon”. Sizwe stated, “this place requires more substantial action,” he added.
Queen Mother Mtirara of eMqhekezweni Great Place was shot and killed that same evening in a different occurrence. Mandla Mdazuka, a family member, said that two balaclava-wearing men entered the house where the mother was sleeping, wanted to talk to her son Phiko, who was not there at the time, and immediately shot her dead. “This occurrence is shocking; there is a lot of crime in this region”.
“Our properties are being robbed, and people are being raped,” Mdazuka stated. Many homes in the neighborhood are empty because locals have left because of the ongoing crime.
Residents are requesting that the government establish a satellite police station because there isn’t one in the region. Police in Bityi have begun a manhunt and are determined to find the several culprits of these crimes.
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