Senior officer’s claim to have never seen pictures of Lusikisiki massacre accused causes stir at trial

The Lusikisiki massacre trial has been stunned by an Eastern Cape police officer’s admission that he did not know the identities of four wanted men, despite their pictures being all over the media, and the high-profile status of the case. Colonel Mandla Miya, who was the head of detectives at the Port St Johns police station, about 45km from Lusikisiki, said he had never seen the pictures of the wanted men or heard their names. His claim has left the defence team questioning the effectiveness of the police investigation and sparked concerns about police co-ordination and communication.

Miya concluded his three-day testimony at the Mthatha High Court, sitting in Lusikisiki, on Friday. Miya said he only learnt the accused’s identities after they were arrested, when he took confession statements from Siphosoxolo Myekethe on October 8 2024, and conducted a pointing out exercise with Bongani “Rico” Hintsa on October 25 2024. The Mthatha High Court is hearing the case of the Lusikisiki massacre, a brutal attack that left 18 people, including 15 women, killed in Ngobozana village on September 28 2024.

Six men — Mzukisi Ndamase, 46, Aphiwe “AP” Ndende, 25, Myekethe, 45, Hintsa, 32, Songezo “Mashiya” Vuma, 21, and Mawethu Nomdlembu, 36 — are accused of the killings. This resulted in the arrest of Hintsa and Ndende in Port Shepstone in KwaZulu-Natal on October 16 2024, but Vuma managed to evade arrest. Somahela found it hard to believe that Miya was not on high alert, saying it was surprising that Miya, being a senior police officer and branch commander, was not aware of such a high-profile case being investigated by a neighbouring station, which was also in the same cluster — Mthatha.