Families need help with tombstones for Lusikisiki shooting victims

The families of the 18 victims killed in last weekend's mass shooting in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape are appealing for assistance to provide tombstones for their loved ones.

The attack occurred in Ngobozana village last Saturday as the families were preparing to attend a traditional ceremony the following morning. Seventeen people died at the scene while the last victim later succumbed to their injuries in hospital.

Family spokesperson Monwabisi Sinqina told TimesLIVE on Friday that the families were “financially overwhelmed”. He appealed to the public to assist the families in providing the deceased with dignified tombstones.

“I have just come out of a meeting with government officials to discuss what assistance the state could provide. We had requested help to hold a memorial service and to construct the graves. Even though we have funeral policies for some of the deceased, we cannot provide tombstones for all of them,” said Sinqina.

“We want to give the graves a brick finish and a tombstone. We can’t provide tombstones for a few and leave the rest. I do not have the financial means to do so. We were hoping for government assistance, but the officials made it clear that the state would not be able to help [prepare] the graves.

“Government officials said they were still negotiating with undertakers regarding coffins for those without funeral cover.

“We are appealing to South Africans to help us bury the deceased with dignity,” he said.

“If we bury them without tombstones, we will be unable to identify the graves after a year. We have seen companies build on unmarked graves and we do not want that to happen to these deceased.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa has conveyed “his deep condolences to the families”.

“I feel deeply for all the families and members of the broader community affected by this attack and on behalf of all of us as South Africans, I offer you our deepest sympathies,” he said in a statement. “While we are united in our grief, we are also united in our outrage and condemnation of this excessive criminal assault which will not go unpunished.

“The SA Police Service has proven its effectiveness in dealing with random and organised crime and I am confident the Lusikisiki case will be added to the successes recorded recently by our police service.

“Community members should therefore feel free to provide investigators with information that can help police apprehend the attackers and prepare a watertight case for our courts to process. We will not allow criminals to prevail.”

Police minister Senzo Mchunu and national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola will attend a memorial service organised by the Eastern Cape government in honour of the victims on Sunday.

TimesLIVE