Two people believed to have been involved in the murder of seven members of the Khoza family in Vlakfontein‚ south of Johannesburg‚ last week‚ are expected to appear in the Lenasia Magistrate's Court on Monday.

 The pair was arrested on Thursday‚ said Captain Mavela Masondo.

"The provincial team investigating serious and violent crimes‚ on November 1 2018‚ responded to information which led the team to Mpumalanga‚ near the Lebombo border post. A 27-year-old male suspect was arrested and in his possession were bank cards belonging to two of the seven victims‚" said Masondo.

"On further investigation‚ a second suspect‚ a 61-year- old male‚ was traced and arrested in Dobsonville."

Masondo said the 27-year old faced an additional charge of rape.

The death of the seven family members shocked the nation last week. The bodies of three women and four children were found buried under piles of sand at their home on Monday.

Speaking at their funeral in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday‚ Minister for Women in the Presidency Bathabile Dlamini said it hurt that the victims were suspected to have been harmed by someone they regarded as family.

The funeral was attended by provincial and regional government leaders.

The bodies of the deceased were brought to the venue briefly before the burial‚ owing to their state of decomposition.

They were laid to rest at Mountain Rise cemetery.

Ahead of the ceremony‚ Gauteng MEC for Community Safety Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane arranged a number of services for the family‚ including obtaining death certificates‚ providing transport to the funeral‚ repatriation of the remains to KwaZulu-Natal and providing coffins.

“We saw it fit as a caring and responsible government to step in‚ assist during these trying times the family is going through. This is one of the most gruesome murders we have recorded in the province in recent times‚" her office quoted her as saying.

SowetanLIVE reported last week that one of the murdered women‚ Nomfundo Khoza‚ had sent frantic WhatsApp messages to her family moments before she died‚ but when they phoned back‚ there was no answer.

“We could not understand her WhatsApp messages‚” said a relative‚ who did not want to be named. “It was something about her dying and being in danger. We called her and she did not pick up. That’s when we felt something was really wrong.”

Neighbours noticed a stench‚ which led police to the bodies.