Pretoria – Seven family members in Malamulele, Limpopo, have been fatally shot by a family member in the early hours of Christmas Day, just after midnight.
Spokesperson for the South African Police Service (SAPS) in Limpopo, Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, said the slain people included four children and a heavily pregnant woman.
“The police in Malamulele have opened a case of seven counts of murder after seven members of the family were today, 25 December 2021 just after midnight at about 00:20, shot and killed allegedly by another family member at Jimmy Jones village in the Vhembe District,” said Mojapelo.
“The deceased are four children and three adults, including a heavily pregnant woman. The names of the deceased will be released later as investigations are still underway.”
Mojapelo said the suspect was later arrested after he handed himself over to the police in Thohoyandou.
“The firearm that was allegedly used in the shooting was also seized,” said Mojapelo.
“The motive for the incident is unknown at this stage but a family feud cannot be ruled out.”
Statistics released by Police Minister Bheki Cele last month showed that the rate of murders in South Africa increased by 20,7% in the three-month period between July and September compared to last year, with an overall increase of 1 056 cases.
A total of 6 163 people were killed in total, Cele said while announcing the crime statistics for the second quarter of 2021.
Major-General Norman Sekhukune said most contact crimes like murder, rape and attempted murder had increased. He added that there were 450 more murder cases in July , 385 in August and 221 in September.
Only the Western Cape recorded a decrease of two cases less than the 1013 reported in the same period last year.
KwaZulu-Natal was leading with 356 cases, followed by Gauteng at 229, Eastern Cape with 83, Free State with 62, North West had 51 cases, Limpopo stood at 43, Mpumalanga at 37, and the Northern Cape recorded 17 cases.
The top 30 police stations included Inanda, Umlazi, Delft, Mfuleni, Plessislaer, Kraaifontein, Harare, KwaMashu, Khayelitsha, and Nyanga.
The causes varied from arguments, revenge, robbery, gang related, vigilantism, death in line of duty, intervention in a fight, taxi related, rape related, commission of another crime and illicit mining.
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