South Africa: A Suspected Killer Refuses to Post Bond
A man who is charged with killing eighteen people in two different South African homes on the same night declined bail on Tuesday and is still being held.
Siphosoxolo Myekethe faces eighteen charges of unauthorised firearm possession and murder. He is charged with using an AK-47 rifle to murder the victims. Myekethe was on parole at the time of the shootings, according to the prosecution, after being found guilty of murder in a different case.
The shootings happened last month in a community in the province of the Eastern Cape on the rural outskirts of the town of Lusikisiki. In two sisters’ homes in the same neighbourhood, the victims were shot and killed. Two men, fifteen women, and a teenager were among the victims.
According to the police, 13 persons were killed in the second residence and four in the first. In the hospital, the 18th victim passed away. The shooting did not kill the two-month-old infant. The prosecution has not provided the motive behind the murders.
The homicide rate in South Africa is among the highest worldwide. According to police figures, the 62 million-person nation had over 12,000 homicides in the first half of this year, or over 70 every day. In these killings, firearms are by far the most common source of death.
Despite South Africa’s relatively stringent gun laws, which include background checks, proficiency checks, and other requirements, officials claim that a significant issue is the high number of unlicensed and unregistered firearms in use.
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