Five gruesome crimes that shocked South Africa in 2024

Presenting the country’s crime statistics for July to September 2024, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu said the recent spike in family murders presented the South African Police Service (SAPS) with an unprecedented challenge.

In 2024, South Africa witnessed multiple family-related massacres, particularly in the Eastern Cape, with police suspecting the crimes were motivated by family feuds.

“The Lusikisiki and Qumbu mass murders highlight a grave and unprecedented challenge in combating localised criminal networks,” said Mchunu in November, while presenting the crime stats.

“When we first assumed office, we did so with a clear mandate — to fight and reduce crime across this country, to ensure the safety and security of all South Africans.

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“It is a mandate that is rooted in a commitment to build a safe, and secure country, a place where citizens could live free from fear, where our children could grow up without the shadow of violence over their lives, and where justice was not a privilege for the few but a right for all. It is a responsibility not for the SAPS only but for the whole of government, whole of society.”

The country recorded 6,545 murders between July and September this year, 6,198 between April and June and 6,536 between January and March.

As the murder rate climbs, several cases have shocked the nation with their brutality.

These are just five of many crimes that were gruesome

Amantle Samane: Raped and killed

Late in October, the community of Orlando East in Soweto went from house to house searching for a man responsible for the rape and murder of five-year-old Amantle Samane.

Samane’s half-naked body was found in an empty shack two streets away from her home.

Police reported that the girl was playing with other children when the suspect, Pethe Sara Simao, called her to his rented shack at one of the houses in Orlando.

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He allegedly raped and killed the girl inside the shack. He went into hiding following the incident.

Community cooperation led to the arrest of the 24-year-old suspect.

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu at the time said he was overwhelmed with anger in court as he faced the Mozambican suspect during his first appearance in the Protea Glen Magistrate’s Court.

He faces four charges – including rape, murder, kidnapping, and contravention of the Immigration Act.

Dismembered human torso found in KZN

On 8 October, a human torso with its arms still attached was found by pedestrians along a road in Amouti, north of Inanda and Phoenix.

Local private security operation Reaction Unit South Africa was contacted at roughly 7 am on 8 October to report the torso’s discovery.

The legless body was found on the grass verge alongside a usually busy road.

It was partially covered with a cream blanket and pink bedsheet. The remains were in a state of decomposition.

A closer examination revealed that the spine had been removed from the torso.

Just a few days before on 4 October, a member of the public had found several other body parts scattered throughout a nearby area just a few days before.

The man, who was picking through a rubbish dump, reportedly stumbled across a black refuse bag containing body parts.

Closer scrutiny of the contents revealed a human head and a pair of legs. Both legs had been severed just below the knee.

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Reaction Unit SA members were also on the scene and stated that the decapitated head appeared to have sustained multiple other injuries.  

A search of the scene found another bag, this one containing legs which had been severed from below the knee to the pelvis.

The morbid discoveries were not over, however, as members of the public directed the attention of responders to a location roughly 500m down the road, where they found a severed penis.

The officers and paramedics who attended the scene were offered counselling.

No arrests have been made yet for this incident.

Khothatso Tshabalala: Stabbed 66 times

In September, the Pretoria High Court sentenced Conwell Mongezi Chauketo to life and six years in prison for killing and kidnapping 11-year-old Khothatso Welhelmina Tshabalala.

According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, 34-year-old Chauke from Loftus Gardens called the victim’s mother while she was at work on 29 December 2020 and threatened her because she did not agree to meet with him the previous day.

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Chauke, who was her prayer group member and prayer partner, told the court that he believed “she was taking him for a fool” as he was interested in pursuing a love relationship with her.

On 29 December, Chauke went to Mamelodi East, where the victim and her mother stayed.

He found the victim playing with her younger sister and the neighbour’s child outside the neighbour’s house.

“He then lured the child under the pretence that he wanted to collect his belongings from her home,” said Mahanjana.

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“When they got into her home, Chauke stabbed the child sixty-six times. He covered her body with linen on top of her bed and fled the scene.”

Lusikisiki family massacre

Also on 28 September, South Africans woke up to a startling report of a family that was wiped out in the Eastern Cape, in what has been recorded as the highest mass killing in this financial year.

Eighteen family members were killed, and according to police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, 13 people were killed in one house, while four were killed in another.

The eighteenth victim died in hospital.

It was reported that the victims were preparing for a traditional ritual scheduled on the Saturday. The ritual was to mark the end of mourning of a mother and daughter who were murdered a year ago.

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The group had reportedly gathered to pack goods and presents for the event when the shooting occurred.

At least seven suspects have been arrested for the murders, with one, Siphosoxolo Myekethe – who was on parole during his arrest – abandoning his bail.

Their trial will resume in February 2025.

Women’s bodies found in pigsty

On 20 August, Zachariah Olivier, 60, a farmer, and his two employees Adriaan De Wet, 19, and William Musoro, 45, a foreign national, were arrested after the discovery of the bodies on a farm in Sebayeng, outside Mankweng.

Maria Makgato and Lucia Ndlovu were allegedly killed before their bodies were dumped in a pigsty at Onverwacht farm.

The suspects appeared in the Mankweng Magistrate’s Court on charges of two counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, defeating the ends of justice and contravention of the Immigration Act (in respect of Musoro, an illegal immigrant).

De Wet and Musoro have abandoned their bail bids.

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The matter is postponed to 18 February 2025 for further investigations. 

Mchunu condemned these heinous crimes, urging courts to ensure justice.

“Granting bail to such suspects undermines the severity of their alleged crimes and endangers public safety,” he said.

“The arrest of these suspects is a step towards justice for the victims and their families. The horrific nature of this crime demands that justice be served without leniency.”