‘If my brother is guilty of KZN family massacre, he must be jailed’

The brother of the prime suspect in a KwaZulu-Natal family massacre says if the accused is guilty, he should be jailed.

“The justice system must play its part and those who committed the crime must be brought to light. If it is my brother, then he must be convicted,” Fanana Khomo said on Thursday.

He was speaking outside the Hammarsdale Magistrate’s Court after his brother, Buhlebakhe Khomo, appeared for the December 11 killings in Mpumalanga, a town in KZN.

He faces six counts of murder, six of attempted murder, one count of the unlawful possession of a stolen vehicle and one of robbery with aggravating circumstances.

Dressed in a green overall jacket, blue jeans and grey T-shirt, the accused stood motionless as people sitting in a packed public gallery watched.

While his bail application was meant to continue on Thursday, the matter had to be postponed to January 17, so that his alternative address could be verified.

Khomo said his family arrived at court, representing their father, to support the accused and had no gripe with the families of the victims.

“As a family, it can’t be that one of your members is in trouble [and] you don’t come and support them. Our father is too old to come here for himself, so he has sent us to see how things are going.”

He added: “We feel very bad about what happened, and we continue to grieve with the Msomi family. It is unfortunate [that] when we come here, it looks like we are here to fight them, but we are not. We are not here to oppress anyone. We are here to find out what happened because this is an issue that affects everyone.”

Six people, five of whom were part of the same family, were killed on December 11, 2019.

Father Mvumo Msomi, his son, Dumisani, daughters Philisiwe and Celiwe, and their cousin, Dumisani Ntuli, were shot and killed at their home in Hammarsdale, Mpumalanga. Their neighbour, Bongani Ndlovu, was also murdered during the incident, and a three-year-old was injured.

Khomo was arrested on December 20, after he was allegedly found in possession of a suspected stolen vehicle, police previously said.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.