Mount Ayliff shooting: Six arrested after Christmas day bloodbath

Following a mass shooting that took place in the village of Mount Ayliff in the Eastern Cape that left 12 people wounded and eight people dead on Christmas day, police have successfully apprehended six suspects understood to have affiliations with warring taxi associations in the province.

The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) moved in to assist the police in their investigations, which comprised a mass mobilisation of officers working to track down those responsible for the violent incident.

Six arrested after Mount Ayliff shooting

National South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson, Brigadier Vish Naidoo, said that police operations have “intensified” at Mpheni Villages, and confirmed the spree of arrests. A group of men from the village allegedly moved to confront another group from the neighbouring Nokhatshile village in what is believed to be a taxi industry related incident.

The six men arrested on Sunday were part of the group of 12 people who were injured during the incident and were arrested after being discharged from hospital where they received treatment for wounds sustained during the shootout.

“The operations are led by the Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Liziwe Ntshinga in person on the Mountains of the area,” he said. “All forces are on the ground in search of other suspects believed to have been involved in the fierce fighting between the two groups.”

“There were 12 people wounded and not six wounded as we initially reported. And of those 12 men, six of them were treated and discharged and we arrested those six immediately after they were discharged from hospital,” said Naidoo.

‘More arrests imminent’ – SAPS

Six other peopleare still receiving medical attention, Naidoo confirmed

“The remaining six are currently still in hospital and we also placed them under police guard because feel that we need to interview them and they may possibly have a case to answer to.”

Ntshinga called on residents from the Mount Ayliff area to assist police with their investigation.

“After they were discharged, we arrested six of them; three are still in hospital. We are busy with them now; charging them with public violence, murder and also for domestic violence because there’s one woman who was also killed,” he said.

“This is a very very bad thing that I picked up in this area. People are so scared, they don’t want to talk. If you ask them, they just say ‘I don’t know anything,’ which is for me it’s not going to assist us. If the community is not working with the police we will not be able to deal with this issue.”