By Johnathan Paoli
President Cyril Ramaphosa has expressed his deep sorrow over the tragic killing of Nkosikazi Thenjiwe Eunice “Nogcinile” Mtirara, a respected traditional leader in the Eastern Cape.
The 71-year-old matriarch was shot dead at her royal residence, Mqhekezweni Great Place, in the Bhityi administrative area just outside Mthatha on Tuesday night.
The shooting has been condemned by the national and provincial government. It is the same village where former president Nelson Mandela spent his teenage years after his father died. The Mandela and Mtirara families have close ties.
Ramaphosa extended his condolences to Mtirara’s AmaDlomo royal clan and the broader AbaThembu Kingdom.
“This merciless attack on an elderly woman, who is a leader in our society and a builder of communities, fills us with grief. But it also fuels our resolve to stop violent crime and bring justice to those who live outside the law and have no respect for the dignity and lives of fellow citizens,” the president said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Every day in our country our courts are dealing with perpetrators who thought they could get away with terrorising individuals or communities. The attack on Mqhekezweni Great Place will end equally disastrously for these perpetrators.”
In another incident less than 24 hours after Mtirara’s murder, five matric learners in the same administrative area were raped and robbed at gunpoint.
Ramaphosa condemned this incident of gender-based violence, saying it targeted learners in a critical phase of their young lives and educational journey.
The president has called on community members to work with the police and other authorities to make communities safer, including reporting any information that “may come their way about these incidents”.
Meanwhile, provincial cooperative governance and traditional affairs MEC Zolile Williams has condemned both the killing, and the rapes of the Grade 12 learners of Jongintaba Secondary School.
He said a scourge of violence has “enveloped the Eastern Cape to levels that have never been experienced before”.
“The violence targeting traditional leadership is not only an assault on the institution of traditional leadership, but an attack on the State because traditional leaders are integral part of the State. The perpetrators will be found…
“The recent spate of violence of rape aimed at helpless young girls is unacceptable. It has to come to an end. Enough is enough,” the MEC said in a statement.
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