- The family of an Eastern Cape woman is devastated after the woman and her five children were hacked to death.
- The mother and her children were found butchered earlier this week.
- No arrests have been made and the slain woman's husband is missing.
The family of an Eastern Cape mother, who was found butchered along with her five children, says that their ordeal "hurts so much".
"This hurts so much. In this home we live on social grant money. Our children are unemployed. I do not even have food to give to the people that are mourning with us," relative Nolungile Skhundwana told SABC on Thursday.
Her 42-year-old daughter and her five grandchildren were found butchered in their home in Kwaaiman village, near Mqanduli, on Tuesday night.
The youngest of the children was only six months old.
Eastern Cape police believe that the weapon used during the incident was an axe.
Skhundwana said the killer took the children's Sassa (SA Social Security Agency) cards and cut up their birth certificates and IDs.
READ | Eastern Cape mom and five children found murdered, police looking for husband
The 42-year-old mother's husband is said to be missing.
"Preliminary investigation indicated that the police were called after neighbours discovered that something wrong had happened in the home of the deceased family. On arrival at the scene of [the] crime and as they started with [the] investigation, the police found six people murdered and among them were children," police spokesperson Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana said in an earlier News24 report.
"No arrest has been made at this stage. It is alleged that the husband to the 42-year-old mother, who is of Zimbabwean origin, has disappeared. Police believe that he can assist the investigations in the case," he added.
A neighbour told the public broadcaster: "What happened here has never happened before. We are so hurt. How are we going to afford six coffins because this family is very poor," Nomakwene Nobhokisi said.
Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga, who described the incident as shattering, ordered the activation of a 72-hour plan to ensure that all the resources were in place to ensure speedy arrests and the finalisation of the investigation.
- Compiled by Canny Maphanga
