Lusikisiki mass shooting: Ramaphosa assures victims' families cops will bring killers to book
It’s understood gunmen attacked the homes of the 18 victims, all located on the same street, at the weekend and opened fire.
Picture: GCIS
JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is confident police in the Eastern Cape will bring the killers of 18 people in Lusikisiki to book.
Ramaphosa has assured the victims' families that the South African Police Service has mobilised maximum resources to get to the bottom of what happened.
It’s understood gunmen attacked the homes of the victims, all located on the same street, at the weekend and opened fire.
Police have confirmed the shooting was premeditated but a motive is not yet known.
A team of specialist detectives and forensic science experts have been deployed to the crime scene to assist with the investigation.
“The president feels deeply for all the families and members of the broader community affected by this attack, and on behalf of all South Africans the president offers deepest sympathies,” said the spokesperson in The Presidency, Vincent Magwenya.
At the same time, Rise Mzansi said the incident should not be treated like a normal case
The party's Makashule Gana said the president must receive regular progress reports from the police.
"One death as a result of crime is too many, but 18 is simply and tragically a clear signal that South Africa is facing an ongoing crime emergency. Putting this into context, the last quarter crime statistics show that 68 people are murdered every month, meaning that this single incident accounts 26% of the monthly average.