By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
SA Police Services (SAPS) have launched a manhunt for two men who killed iNkosi Nogcinile Mtirara at Mqhekezweni Great Place in Mthatha, Eastern Cape.
Mtitara, 71, was the granddaughter of King Jongintaba Mtirara, who raised Nelson Mandela as his guardian.
Family spokesperson Princess Phathiswa Mtirara condemned the murder, saying “This is a disaster, a blow to the family,” she said.
“She was the pillar of this family, a matriarch we rely upon, in good times and bad times.”
Police spokesperson Lt-Col Siphokazi Mawisa said an investigating team and police forensic experts are on the ground.
“Provincial detectives from the serious and violent crimes unit are leading the team to ensure the perpetrators are arrested,” Mawisa said.
On the same night, five grade 12 schoolgirls from Jongintaba High School were raped at gunpoint by two men at their private boarding lodges in neighbouring Konkqeni village, about 3km from Mqhekezweni.
The Eastern Cape department of education said the pupils from Jongintaba High School were accosted by two armed intruders in a rented home, which serves as their boarding facility.
Education MEC Fundile Gade said the department has activated psychosocial support services for debriefing and counselling of the distressed pupils, schoolmates and affected educators.
The district has also dispatched senior officials to visit the school.
“The entire sector is shocked by this barbaric act of raping learners and we shall provide all the necessary support to the victims, including their families. It is so sad that we must condemn violence against girl learners, whom the society is supposed to protect as future leaders, “said Gade.
“I urge the community of Mqhekezweni to work with the police to ensure that these perpetrators face the wrath of the law.”
The family violence, child protection and sexual offences investigations unit has assembled a team to investigate the rape and robbery.
Mawisa said, Anyone with information that can assist in tracing the suspects is urged to contact our SAPS Crime Stop number 08600-10111 or report to the nearby police station.
Mqhekezweni Great Place is the historic home of the AbaThembu nation, settled in the OR Tambo District.
The South African government has declared Mqhekezweni Great Place a National Heritage Site.
In his biography, Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela said: “Mqhekezweni was a mission station of the Methodist Church and far more up to date and Westernised than Qunu.”