A Kokstad ward councillor says the failure to arrest those responsible for a series of child murders has severely damaged residents’ trust in the police and government.
The latest concerns follow the discovery of the body of seven-year-old Ndalo Jona in the Marikana informal settlement, weeks after he went missing.
Ndalo was reported missing more than three weeks ago after leaving his home to fetch a soccer ball and failing to return.
Police say the child was found with a stab wound. He is expected to be laid to rest on Friday.
Investigators have also established that Ndalo’s body was discovered at the same location where the remains of another seven-year-old child, Lathitha Mtolo, were found in June.
The deaths have heightened fears among residents, with community members questioning whether a serial perpetrator or group could be operating in the area.
Ward 10 councillor Zodidi Tshazi said residents are living in fear and are increasingly turning against one another amid the lack of arrests.
“It divides the community. It seems as if it’s something that is demonic,” Tshazi said.
She said tensions had escalated, with residents holding meetings and subsequently accusing one another of involvement in the killings.
“Everybody is fighting amongst each other accusing everyone that they want to accuse. They also accuse councillors and SAPS of taking children and making muthi, so the situation is very bad,” she said.
Tshazi has called for vacant shacks in the informal settlement to be removed, saying some of the abandoned structures could be used as hiding places by criminals.
She said community leaders had also approached the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner to request additional resources and increased night patrols in the area.
While Tshazi said residents were not directly blaming the police, she expressed frustration over what she described as the slow pace of the investigation.
“We are not blaming the SAPS but we are saying the progress is very slow,” she said.
Tshazi said the repeated killings had left the community questioning whether a larger criminal network could be operating in and around Kokstad.
“We don’t understand what’s happening because we thought it was for the last time that it was but now we see that there is a syndicate in the Marikana area, around Kokstad, that is repeatedly doing the same thing,” she said.
The councillor said the killings had left families traumatised and fearful for their children.
“We are all shaken, we are all scared. We are all very worried as mothers and women of Greater Kokstad, we are very frustrated,” she said.
Police investigations into the child murders are continuing, while the community awaits answers and arrests in connection with the deaths.