A 19-year-old male is expected to appear at the Athlone Magistrates’ Court today in connection with the mass shooting that occurred in the Marikana informal settlement in Philippi East on Saturday 17 January.
The suspect is facing nine counts of murder and one of attempted murder. (“Calls for army to restore peace”, City Vision, 22 January). The community leader who refused to be named for fear of reprisals described the arrest as a breakthrough and expected other arrests to be made soon.
“We can’t hide the fact that we are excited by this development. We are expecting other arrests to take place; our wish is to see all the culprits rot in jail.”
The source said the community intended to be the eyes and ears of the officers, since crime in Marikana was getting out of hand. He appealed for more officers to be deployed in the area.
Provincial police spokesperson Brig Novela Potelwa said ongoing investigations into the Marikana multiple murders by provincial serious violent crime detectives led to a breakthrough on Friday 23 January, when a suspect was charged.
“Nine people were shot and killed, eight men and a woman, and another was wounded when gunmen opened fire at a shebeen in Philippi East in the early hours of Saturday 17 January. The officer’s team, comprising detectives, crime intelligence and combat members, arrested a 19-year-old suspect on Friday 23 January in Zwelethemba, Worcester.” She said the officers’ reports indicated three suspects entered the shebeen just after midnight.
“Several shots were fired in the shack. Six people died on the scene while one perished on his way to a medical facility and another in hospital. A few days later another person died from their serious wounds sustained in the shooting, also in hospital.
“Of the nine dead one is a woman who is said to have owned the shebeen.” Potelwa said the incident is believed to be extortion-related.
