After months of execution-style killings that have turned a cluster of villages outside Willowvale into a killing ground for traditional leaders and their families, Eastern Cape police have made a breakthrough, arresting three suspects — including two school-age boys — for the murder of a headman and his elderly mother.
Headman Siyabulela Simoki, 44, and his mother, Nowisile Simoki, 70, were gunned down at their Komkhulu homestead in Nkonkwana last month.
Their deaths were the latest in a series of killings in four neighbouring villages in which traditional leaders and their relatives, including mothers, brothers and children, have been shot.
Police provincial spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said two juveniles, aged 16 and 17, were arrested in Willowvale and Stutterheim on October 20 and 29 respectively.
A 38-year-old man, Siphelele Zileyi, was arrested in Klerksdorp on November 4.
The three appeared in the Willowvale magistrate's court on Tuesday.
The case was postponed to November 18 for further investigation and a formal bail application. They remain in custody.
Gantana said the juveniles could not be identified in line with the law.
The arrests mark the first breakthrough in the killing of the Simokis, amid a spate of murders that has left the Mbhashe area reeling and the amaXhosa Kingdom in mourning.
According to police, the Simokis were killed at 6.45pm on October 13 when two armed suspects stormed their homestead at Komkhulu village in the Nkonkwana administrative area.
The suspects held five occupants at gunpoint and demanded cash and a firearm before opening fire.
The headman and his mother died at the scene, while his wife, Nosamnkele Simoki, and two other occupants escaped unharmed.
A high-level police task team from the Eastern Cape Provincial Serious and Violent Crimes Investigative Unit, led by Brigadier Duduzile Ngculu, has been investigating the cases.
The killings have prompted visits to Willowvale by Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane, community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha, provincial police commissioner Major-General Vuyisile Ncata and deputy provincial commissioner for crime detection, Major-General Zithulele Dladla.
The delegation met affected families, community members and police as part of efforts to address the violence and ensure those responsible were arrested.
What has particularly alarmed investigators is the concentration of killings in neighbouring villages, just a few kilometres apart.
Nkonkwana, where the Simokis were killed, borders Nqabarha, where Nkosi Mzonke Mazamisa, 52, and his mother, Nkosikazi Nojongile Mazamisa, 70, were shot dead at their Great Place on September 4 at about 5.30pm.
A 50-year-old woman was wounded in that attack.
Nkonkwana is close to Mente village, where Nkosi Mshumayeli Mente and his three brothers — Gcinumzi, Sindile and Avumile — were ambushed and shot dead on December 4 2024 while travelling to the Willowvale CBD.
It is also near Nkxankxashe, where seven people, including five members of the September family and an eight-year-old child, were ambushed and killed on May 19 2024.
The attack is believed to have been a case of mistaken identity, with the family caught in crossfire between extortion gangs.
Days before the Simoki murders, five youths were shot dead in another mass shooting at Matyotyombeni in Willowvale Extension 1, in an incident believed to be linked to drug wars in the area.
Police confirmed there had been no arrests in the Mazamisa murders or the recent killing of Mbhashe municipal Ward 10 councillor Ernest Fipaza, who was shot dead in Dutywa, as well as the five youths killed in Willowvale.
Family spokesperson Mthwamanzi Smoki said the family was shattered and did not know why the headman and his mother had been targeted.
AmaXhosa King Ahlangene Sigcawu and Contralesa provincial chair Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyane welcomed the arrests but called for progress in the other murder cases.
“We are appalled by the repeated sequence of an identical pattern of murders of our traditional leaders here in Willowvale," Sigcawu said.
"The provincial government and its police must act swiftly.
"The safety of our society and its traditional leaders must take precedence as it is now clearly observable that traditional leaders are a target of criminals.
“I refuse to accept the continued killing of traditional leaders as an expected occurrence.
"I call on the provincial government and its police to devise a plan on protection of traditional leaders who clearly are under attack by common criminals.”
Nonkonyane condemned the killings and called for further arrests.
“We hope such cases are referred to the Political Killings Task Team under Lieutenant-General [Nhlanhla] Mkhwanazi. Police units must be deployed at every Great Place,” he said.
Daily Dispatch