A grieving royal family has pleaded for justice after a traditional leader and his mother were gunned down at their Great Place outside Willowvale, leaving two young boys without their father and grandmother.
Nkosi Mzonke Gudlulwandle Mazamisa, 52, and his mother, Nkosikazi Nojongile Eleonor Mazamisa, 70, were laid to rest at Nqabarha Great Place on Saturday, just over two weeks after gunmen entered their home and opened fire.
A 50-year-old woman was also wounded in the September 4 attack.
The traditional leader’s mother was still mourning her husband, former Nkosi Monde Mazamisa, who died in July after retiring from the throne following 49 years of service.
According to relatives, Mzonke’s 11-year-old son keeps asking why his father, who had promised to help him with a school heritage project about their family’s chieftaincy, will not wake up.
His eight-year-old brother, who used to sit on his grandmother’s lap while she recited royal clan praises, is also struggling with the loss.
The slain traditional leader’s sister, Lomso Mcinga, appealed directly to Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane at Saturday’s funeral to ensure those responsible were brought to justice.
“Please, premier, ensure that the killers are arrested and that this case does not become part of the hundreds of unsolved murders.”
Her sister, Nontombi, said their mother had been shot eight times in her own home.
“Our mother was a mother to the whole village. She was a peace-maker, a woman who fed everyone, who prayed for this community.
“My brother was not a chief who sat in an office. He was in the fields with the people, building the community hall, fighting for water, even before he became a traditional leader.
“For the sake of these two young boys who now have no father and no grandmother, come forward.
“We want to see the people who did this in jail. We won’t be okay until they are jailed,” Nontombi said.
Mzonke’s eldest son, Thandile, 30, who met his two younger brothers for the first time at the funeral, also called for arrests.
Mabuyane warned that gun violence was becoming increasingly prevalent in Willowvale, where three traditional leaders have been killed this year.
He urged residents to help police identify criminals and remove illegal firearms from their communities.
“By now we should have arrested people involved in the Mazamisa family as we believe that people know who is involved in that double murder and many other killings in Willowvale.
“Gun violence is becoming rife,” he said.
Mabuyane said the gunmen had attacked an institution central to rural communities.
“They desecrated an institution that has held rural South Africa together for centuries,” he said.
National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders deputy chair Nkosi Langa Mavuso said 43 traditional leaders had been killed nationally since 2024, including seven in the Eastern Cape and 33 in KwaZulu-Natal.
“Traditional leaders are under siege,” Mavuso said.
Contralesa provincial chair Nkosi Mwelo Nonkonyana called for the Political Killings Task Team to investigate such murders.
Daily Dispatch