{"id":31529,"date":"2022-05-31T21:44:43","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T21:44:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death"},"modified":"2022-05-31T21:52:54","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T21:52:54","slug":"sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death","title":{"rendered":"Sleepless nights in South Africa&#8217;s &#8216;Village of Death&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>Sleep is something that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni abandoned many months ago.<br \/>\nTucked in a remote corner of South Africa, this frightened village of 3,000 people has suffered a murder almost every month, occurring with clockwork regularity for a year.<\/p>\n<p>The brutal series of killings has earned Zingqolweni a chilling moniker: &#8220;The Village of Death.&#8221;<br \/>\nAll 11 victims have been elderly people, most of whom were women and most of whom lived alone.<br \/>\nThey have been stabbed to death in their homes after nightfall, when pitch darkness falls over a village where the unpaved roads are unlit.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1160\" height=\"652\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-31526 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_3.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_3.jpg 1160w, https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_3-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_3-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_3-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px\" \/><br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1160\" height=\"652\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-31527 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_4.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_4.jpg 1160w, https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_4-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_4-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postMeadiaimg_1_4-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1160px) 100vw, 1160px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>First victims<\/p>\n<p>Her mother was among the first victims, killed in May 2021.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I found my mother there, next to the door, lying in a pool of blood. Her throat was slit,&#8221; Fihla told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Her aunt was then found stabbed to death in the same thatched round hut where the two sisters lived.<\/p>\n<p>No-one saw or heard anything.<\/p>\n<p>The homes, known as rondavels, are far apart from each other in Zingqolweni, a Xhosa-speaking community lying three hours from the nearest large city of East London.<\/p>\n<p>Here the sun sets behind the green mountains of the Eastern Cape province by 6pm (1600 GMT) in the winter months.<\/p>\n<p>Never in South Africa<\/p>\n<p>South Africa is one of the world&#8217;s most violent countries outside a war zone, with a murder committed every 20 minutes on average.<\/p>\n<p>But even hardened police have been taken aback by the gruesomeness of this killing spree.<\/p>\n<p>All the victims were brutally stabbed. Some also had their throats slit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They literally bleed to death,&#8221; a senior police investigator told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A series of murders of elderly people with a psychological motive. No, not seen before in South Africa,&#8221; said the investigator, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n<p>Six men have been arrested over the killings, and their trial is set to begin in June.<\/p>\n<p>Local police believe the murders are simply burglaries that have gone wrong.<\/p>\n<p>But local official Gcinikaya Koki, 64, is among those who doubt that thieves are to blame.<\/p>\n<p>The CitizenNewsAfrica<br \/>\nSleepless nights in South Africa&#8217;s &#8216;Village of Death&#8217;<br \/>\nMONDAY MAY 30 2022<\/p>\n<p>Zingqolweni village,<br \/>\nA woman walks on a dirt road in Zingqolweni village, South Africa on May 16, 2022. -In Zingqolweni eleven people have been murdered in a year, about one a month, with clockwork regularity. PHOTO | AFP<\/p>\n<p>Summary<br \/>\nAll 11 victims have been elderly people, most of whom were women and most of whom lived alone.<br \/>\nThey have been stabbed to death in their homes after nightfall, when pitch darkness falls over a village where the unpaved roads are unlit.<br \/>\nADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>AFP-logoBy AFP<br \/>\nMore by this Author<\/p>\n<p>Zingqolweni<\/p>\n<p>Sleep is something that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni abandoned many months ago.<\/p>\n<p>Tucked in a remote corner of South Africa, this frightened village of 3,000 people has suffered a murder almost every month, occurring with clockwork regularity for a year.<\/p>\n<p>The brutal series of killings has earned Zingqolweni a chilling moniker: &#8220;The Village of Death.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All 11 victims have been elderly people, most of whom were women and most of whom lived alone.<\/p>\n<p>They have been stabbed to death in their homes after nightfall, when pitch darkness falls over a village where the unpaved roads are unlit.<\/p>\n<p>ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n<p>Nobongile Fihla, 50, spoke to AFP as she walked back from the cemetery.<\/p>\n<p>Nontukunina Mbenyana<br \/>\nNontukunina Mbenyana, 82, whose son was the first victim of a wave of murders that affected South Africa\u2019s Zingqolweni village. PHOTO | AFP<\/p>\n<p>First victims<\/p>\n<p>Her mother was among the first victims, killed in May 2021.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I found my mother there, next to the door, lying in a pool of blood. Her throat was slit,&#8221; Fihla told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Her aunt was then found stabbed to death in the same thatched round hut where the two sisters lived.<\/p>\n<p>No-one saw or heard anything.<\/p>\n<p>The homes, known as rondavels, are far apart from each other in Zingqolweni, a Xhosa-speaking community lying three hours from the nearest large city of East London.<\/p>\n<p>Here the sun sets behind the green mountains of the Eastern Cape province by 6pm (1600 GMT) in the winter months.<\/p>\n<p>Village meeting<br \/>\nA woman listens during a community meeting to address security issues in Zingqolweni village on May 16, 2022. Almost all the inhabitants live on social assistance and many here are over 80 years old. PHOTO | AFP<\/p>\n<p>Never in South Africa<\/p>\n<p>South Africa is one of the world&#8217;s most violent countries outside a war zone, with a murder committed every 20 minutes on average.<\/p>\n<p>But even hardened police have been taken aback by the gruesomeness of this killing spree.<\/p>\n<p>All the victims were brutally stabbed. Some also had their throats slit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They literally bleed to death,&#8221; a senior police investigator told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A series of murders of elderly people with a psychological motive. No, not seen before in South Africa,&#8221; said the investigator, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n<p>Six men have been arrested over the killings, and their trial is set to begin in June.<\/p>\n<p>Local police believe the murders are simply burglaries that have gone wrong.<\/p>\n<p>But local official Gcinikaya Koki, 64, is among those who doubt that thieves are to blame.<\/p>\n<p>Nobongile Fihla<br \/>\nNobongile Fihla, 50, inside the rondavel in Zingqolweni village where her mother and aunt where murdered in May 2021. PHOTO | AFP<\/p>\n<p>Valuables untouched<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After the killings, when people were searching the house they found the money in the house,&#8221; he said, adding that other valuables were also untouched.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now, you then ask yourself, &#8216;What is it that they want from this person that they killed?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The only clue ever found has been a piece of clothing.<\/p>\n<p>Fears of a serial killer on the loose have swept the village. Some have fled and women have started sleeping together at night.<\/p>\n<p>The CitizenNewsAfrica<br \/>\nSleepless nights in South Africa&#8217;s &#8216;Village of Death&#8217;<br \/>\nMONDAY MAY 30 2022<br \/>\nA woman walks on a dirt road in Zingqolweni village, South Africa on May 16, 2022. -In Zingqolweni eleven people have been murdered in a year, about one a month, with clockwork regularity. PHOTO | AFP<\/p>\n<p>Summary<\/p>\n<p>All 11 victims have been elderly people, most of whom were women and most of whom lived alone.<br \/>\nThey have been stabbed to death in their homes after nightfall, when pitch darkness falls over a village where the unpaved roads are unlit.<\/p>\n<p>Sleep is something that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni abandoned many months ago.<\/p>\n<p>Tucked in a remote corner of South Africa, this frightened village of 3,000 people has suffered a murder almost every month, occurring with clockwork regularity for a year.<\/p>\n<p>The brutal series of killings has earned Zingqolweni a chilling moniker: &#8220;The Village of Death.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>All 11 victims have been elderly people, most of whom were women and most of whom lived alone.<\/p>\n<p>They have been stabbed to death in their homes after nightfall, when pitch darkness falls over a village where the unpaved roads are unlit.<\/p>\n<p>First victims<\/p>\n<p>Her mother was among the first victims, killed in May 2021.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I found my mother there, next to the door, lying in a pool of blood. Her throat was slit,&#8221; Fihla told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Her aunt was then found stabbed to death in the same thatched round hut where the two sisters lived.<\/p>\n<p>No-one saw or heard anything.<\/p>\n<p>The homes, known as rondavels, are far apart from each other in Zingqolweni, a Xhosa-speaking community lying three hours from the nearest large city of East London.<\/p>\n<p>Here the sun sets behind the green mountains of the Eastern Cape province by 6pm (1600 GMT) in the winter months.<\/p>\n<p>Village meeting<\/p>\n<p>A woman listens during a community meeting to address security issues in Zingqolweni village on May 16, 2022. Almost all the inhabitants live on social assistance and many here are over 80 years old. PHOTO | AFP<\/p>\n<p>Never in South Africa<\/p>\n<p>South Africa is one of the world&#8217;s most violent countries outside a war zone, with a murder committed every 20 minutes on average.<\/p>\n<p>But even hardened police have been taken aback by the gruesomeness of this killing spree.<\/p>\n<p>All the victims were brutally stabbed. Some also had their throats slit.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They literally bleed to death,&#8221; a senior police investigator told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;A series of murders of elderly people with a psychological motive. No, not seen before in South Africa,&#8221; said the investigator, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n<p>Six men have been arrested over the killings, and their trial is set to begin in June.<\/p>\n<p>Local police believe the murders are simply burglaries that have gone wrong.<\/p>\n<p>But local official Gcinikaya Koki, 64, is among those who doubt that thieves are to blame.<\/p>\n<p>Valuables untouched<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;After the killings, when people were searching the house they found the money in the house,&#8221; he said, adding that other valuables were also untouched.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Now, you then ask yourself, &#8216;What is it that they want from this person that they killed?'&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The only clue ever found has been a piece of clothing.<\/p>\n<p>Fears of a serial killer on the loose have swept the village. Some have fled and women have started sleeping together at night.<\/p>\n<p>Code of silence<\/p>\n<p>A special police unit that investigates serial crimes has visited the area several times.<\/p>\n<p>The murders, the investigator told AFP, share hallmarks that fit the narrative of a lone killer.<\/p>\n<p>In each killing, there is a single modus operandi; the murders occur regularly at the start of each month; and there is no evidence of a criminal motive.<\/p>\n<p>The murderer must be young and strong enough to overpower his victims, according to this scenario. And given the remoteness of the village, he probably lives nearby, and possibly harbours a hatred of the elderly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The person must have known the people living there and who was living alone,&#8221; the investigator said.<\/p>\n<p>Husking maize on a stool in front of her home, 82-year-old Nontukunina Mbenyana says she is afraid but she will not leave.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If they come for me, I am prepared,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I will die in my own house.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Authorities had for months kept silent on the killings, so vigilantes stepped in.<\/p>\n<p>Seven suspects, all men aged 21 to 27, were found dead. Some were burned alive, others hanged in the nearby forests.<\/p>\n<p>Twelve men have been arrested, but then released for lack of evidence.<\/p>\n<p>So the investigation continues, amid a code of silence in the village.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Nothing happened here,&#8221; a man climbing into his pickup told AFP.<\/p>\n<p>Lately, the grisly crimes have halted, deepening the mystery.<\/p>\n<p>Increased police patrols and media attention may have deterred the murders &#8220;for a while,&#8221; the investigator said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We sometimes see that serial murderers who begin to be uncovered move away. We might come across him again somewhere else&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\">South-Africa<\/a> Follow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/\">Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; South-Africa. Sleep is something that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni abandoned many months ago. Tucked in a remote corner of South Africa, this frightened village of 3,000 people has suffered a murder almost every month, occurring with clockwork regularity for a year. The brutal series of killings has earned Zingqolweni a chilling moniker: &#8220;The [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":31528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,11],"tags":[274,315,2175,275,2174],"class_list":["post-31529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-photo","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africas-village-of-death","tag-south-africa-2","tag-village-of-death"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sleepless nights in South Africa&#039;s &#039;Village of Death&#039; - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sleep is something that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni abandoned many months ago.Tucked in a remote corner of South Afr ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sleepless nights in South Africa&#039;s &#039;Village of Death&#039;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sleep is something that the inhabitants of Zingqolweni abandoned many months ago.Tucked in a remote corner of South Afr ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-05-31T21:44:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-05-31T21:52:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postQueueImg_1-62968e056b483.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"652\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Sleepless nights in South Africa&#8217;s &#8216;Village of Death&#8217;\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-31T21:44:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-05-31T21:52:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death\"},\"wordCount\":1765,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2022\/05\/postQueueImg_1-62968e056b483.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South Africa's 'Village of Death'\",\"South-Africa\",\"Village of Death\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"photo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/sleepless-nights-in-south-africas-village-of-death\",\"name\":\"Sleepless nights in South Africa's 'Village of Death' - 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