One of the sisters targeted in the Lusikisiki massacre begged gunmen to spare her guests and kill her instead.
Her pleas were ignored.
As the state closes its case in the Lusikisiki massacre trial, confession statements by four of the accused have revealed chilling details of how 18 people were executed during attacks on neighbouring homesteads in Ngobozana village on September 28 2024.
The confessions describe how Mary Sinqina, 63, begged for mercy as heavily armed men moved through her homestead.
“I heard a voice of an old lady begging: ‘Please don’t kill them, they are just visitors here. Rather kill me. Please have mercy’,” Siphosoxolo Myekethe said in his confession.
“But [the] shooting did not stop.”
Eighteen people — 15 women, a 13-year-old boy and two men — were killed when gunmen attacked the homesteads of Mary and her sister, Nancy Sinqina-Mhatu, 59.
The Mthatha High Court sitting in Lusikisiki heard that many of the victims had been asleep when the attacks began. None were armed or fought back.
According to the confessions, the attackers first targeted Sinqina-Mhatu’s home.
Myekethe said one of Sinqina-Mhatu’s daughters was forced to knock on the door of the main house.
Sinqina-Mhatu, her daughters Anita Dimpo Mhatu, 30, and Athini Mhatu, 25, and her 13-year-old grandson, Thabiso Mhatu, were among those killed.
The gunmen then moved to Mary Sinqina’s homestead.
There, three men armed with AK-47 rifles allegedly entered the property while Myekethe, carrying a shotgun, stood guard at the gate.
Accused Aphiwe Ndende, Bonga Hintsa and Songezi Vuma all confirmed in separate confessions that Sinqina pleaded for her visitors’ lives.
Hintsa said: “An old lady opened. She begged us to kill her and not her guests.”
The attackers allegedly gathered family members and guests from different rooms before opening fire.
“We took everyone out to the bedroom and passage and took them to the sitting room, and we started shooting them,” Hintsa said.
Fourteen people were killed at the homestead, including Sinqina and her son, Thobile, 37.
Another victim, Siyabonga Nyawuza, died in hospital later.
Only a two-month-old baby, found covered in his mother’s blood, survived.
The victims had gathered to prepare for a ritual marking the end of mourning for family members Nomnikelo Sinqina and her daughter, Zinzi Sinqina-Jawuse, who were themselves murdered in Ngobozana in August 2023.
Myekethe told the court there had been an agreement that those involved in the killings would receive control of drug-selling territory in Lusikisiki.
“Our deal was that everyone involved in the killing would have a drug stand in the Lusikisiki town,” he said.
The six accused are Myekethe, alleged mastermind Mzukisi Ndamase, 47, Ndende, 26, Hintsa, 32, Vuma, 22, and Mawethu Nomdlembu, 37.
Apart from Myekethe and Nomdlembu, the accused face 29 charges, including 19 counts of murder.
The 19th count relates to the murder of ANC Alfred Nzo regional leader Mncedisi Gijana in KwaBhaca on August 19 2024.
Myekethe is charged only in connection with the Lusikisiki murders. Nomdlembu, meanwhile, only faces charges of possession of firearms and ammunition.
According to evidence heard during the trial, the massacre and Gijana’s murder were rooted in a cycle of drug-related turf wars and revenge attacks involving the Sinqina and Ndamase families.
The state alleges Ndamase, who was serving a life sentence at Wellington Prison in Mthatha at the time, orchestrated the attacks by telephone from his prison cell.
The prosecution has now closed its case after calling witnesses, including survivors, relatives of the victims, forensic experts and ballistic specialists.
Almost 40 witnesses have testified for the state.
Evidence for the defence is expected to begin on July 22. — Daily Dispatch