Soshanguve residents in fear after five people are murdered

The killing of five people at an informal settlement in Soshanguve, north of Pretoria, has left some residents so fearful for their lives that one has even fled to another province.

One resident said he has been living in fear that he or his family could be the killers’ next target at the Marry Me informal settlement where the incident happened.

“I haven’t been able to sleep ever since finding out what happened because I am too afraid that I will wake up with a gun to my head or, worse, my wife and daughter being raped,” said the man who would only identify himself as "Steven".

The murders have brought a sharp focus on crime in the area as well as the existence of alleged extortion groups in the informal settlement.

Residents who spoke to Sowetan said they heard people screaming between 10pm and midnight on Friday. Scared of venturing out to investigate, they called the police.

The screams were followed by a series of gunshots fired in quick succession, they said. It was only in the morning that residents got to know the severity of the incident. Members of a group that usually patrols the area had been severely beaten with sticks, stoned and later set on fire.

Five of them aged between 19 and 44 died while seven others were critically injured and are fighting for their lives in hospital.

A resident who heard the gunshots said it seemed as if the victims were ambushed by people who had waited for them to converge in one place before attacking them.

According to Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, who visited the area to meet the families of the victims, investigations have revealed that there seemed to be four patrol groups in the settlement that were fighting for some sort of control and extorting residents. “I have counted four from the basis of the report given to me,” Lesufi said.

Three were collecting money – one for patrolling, another for electricity, another for water – while one was against money being collected.

“There are various groups involved and six [people linked to extortion] have been arrested and will be appearing in court soon. There is a suspect kingpin that is already in jail who seems to run this [money collection] in the community."

Lesufi said there were “various syndicates [involved] but it boils down to extortion".

"The line becomes blurred because there are some decisions that are being taken by the community themselves, and I am told by councillors that this is not something new but a norm for there to be some collection of money across some of the informal settlements.”

Lesufi said it was not yet known what led to the killings and that police were investigating.

Residents told Sowetan that there were  groups active  in the community.

There was a group that collected close to R350 for electricity, R50 for water and R50 for patrolling every month.

Paulina Choseli, who lives in the area, said residents had to pay to stay illegally connected to water and electricity. Those who did not pay were disconnected.

“When it came to patrollers it didn’t feel forced because they were protecting us and it was our way of saying thank you to them,” said  Choseli. “And even when we didn’t pay it was not a bad thing, like they wouldn’t threaten us or anything like that but we understood that everything they were doing was for our safety and now, if anything, we are even more scared than ever.”

Steven, who belongs to the patrolling group, denied it was extorting residents but was  serving the community.

“We don’t ask people for money. In fact, when we started this thing last year, it was not done by just a certain group of people. It was done by volunteers who were willing to step up to the plate to protect the community and there was no discussion of asking people for money or anything like that,” he said.

Joseph Kgomo, the uncle of Philemon Sesoko, 34, one of the murdered men, said his death had devastated the family.

“What’s worse is that there are so many stories going about. One can’t even believe what is being said because there’s so many different stories being told. I would feel better if the police would just tell us exactly what happened and arrest the people who did this to my nephew,” Kgomo said.

The family of another victim, Andries Tlhabane, 44, said they received a call from the neighbours about the incident.

“ My brother didn’t deserve to die in the way he did, he was just protecting people,” said his sister Letti Tlhabane, 54.

Lesufi said he would be meeting with the community on Wednesday to speak to them about the problems plaguing their community.

Despite the deaths, Steven said they will still continue to patrol the area. “We are scared but we will try to continue because if we don’t then we will continue to live in the fear that one day they will come knocking on our doors.”

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