Three men, arrested in connection with the Lusikisiki mass murders, have abandoned their bail application.
Aphuwe Ndende, Lwando Abi and Bonga Hintsa appeared in the Lusikisiki Magistrate's Court on Friday on charges of murder and firearm possession. A suspect, previously arrested for the murders, Siphosoxolo Myekethe has also abandoned his bail application.
Ndende and Hinsta were arrested in Port Shepstone while Abi was arrested in East London.
Myekethe was arrested at his home in Mthimde location, Mamfengwini.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Ndende told the court he absconded on a murder case that is currently before the Flagstaff Magistrates' Court.
"Abi revealed that he has a 2012 attempted murder conviction that he seven years imprisonment. He was sentenced by the Khayelitsha Magistrate's Court, and Hintsa informed the court that he had a previous conviction for drug possession. He was given a suspended sentence of three years by the Flagstaff Magistrates' Court," said NPA spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali.
He added that Myekethe has previous convictions for escaping from lawful custody and murder.
Tyali said two others, arrested in possession of four firearms suspected to have been used during the Lusikisiki attack, appeared in the neighbouring Flagstaff Magistrates' Court. They face four counts of unlawful possession of three AK47 assault rifles and a Steyr 243 riffle as well as possession of 82 live rounds of ammunition.
Their case has been remanded to Monday for legal representation.
Their arrest comes after the shooting that occurred on September 28 2024, at two neighbouring homesteads in Ngobozana Village near the town of Lusikisiki, where eighteen people were killed, and five others were injured.
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