The Eastern Cape police said on Monday that they were looking for suspects who burnt down 49 homesteads in Port St Johns on the Wild Coast when they went “on a rampage” at 4am.

Police spokesperson Tembinkosi Kinana said scores of villagers had been left destitute.

“According to the reports, during the attack, houses were set alight while others were severely damaged. No injuries or fatalities were reported, as people allegedly escaped unharmed. However, in a nearby village of Tyeni, one person, a man aged 49, was shot and killed. It is unclear at this stage if this particular incident is related to the arson attacks,” he said.

“The motive for these attacks is unknown, but stock theft and ongoing faction fights cannot be ruled out. Cases of arson, murder and malicious injury to property have been registered for investigation. No arrests have been made at this stage.

“It is alleged that during the invasion, the suspects also damaged a transformer to cut electricity and any other form of communication in the area,” Kinana added.

He said community leaders and police officers were patrolling the area as communications had been cut off.

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The Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nomthetheleli Mene, has ordered that a high-level task team be formed to track down and arrest the suspects. 

One of the chiefs in the area, who wanted to remain anonymous, said what had happened in Buje village was the continuation of what happened last year in the Majola Administrative Area.

“We still do not have a full report about the damage, but we can confirm that this attack is related to stock theft. We also received reports of dead people, but we still need to check those death reports, and we will visit the affected area on Tuesday.

“The unfortunate part of this arson attack is that it is affecting innocent children and elderly people. Some of them do not have a place to sleep and some run to their relatives. The situation is bad here.

“We will engage with the government again because in last year’s attack, they sent police officials to patrol here, but we only see one vehicle patrolling around. Maybe this needs more government intervention,” said the leader.

Violent incidents, described by some as faction fighting, have been flaring in the area since September 2021. By September 2022, more than 100 homesteads had been burnt down and 15 people had been killed. It is understood that disputes over stock theft triggered the fighting.

In September 2022, police had to intervene after four homesteads were burnt down and a man was shot. DM/MC