Free State Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Baile Motswenyane has ordered an urgent mobilisation of investigators after seven people were found brutally murdered on a farm just outside the small farming town of Kestell.
The seven, who are farm workers and include six women and one young man, were found killed at Lismor Farm in the eastern Free State on Friday morning.
Motswenyane said maximum resources should be deployed to make sure perpetrators are brought to book.
“I instructed the team to work around the clock,” she said.
Motswenyane gave a stern warning to those behind the killings that the police were hot on their heels.
“. . . let me warn the perpetrator(s) that they can run but ultimately the mighty hand of the law will catch up with them,” she said.
The provincial police chief also sent her condolences to the families of the victims who she said lost their loved ones in a horrible manner.
Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Motantsi Makhele said the farm owner came across the lifeless bodies of the farm workers inside their house on the farm.
“Apparently, the victims were brutally shot and killed by unknown suspect(s). The motive behind (the killings) is not yet known,” said Makhele in a statement.
The names of deceased and their ages are not yet known and will be disclosed after their next-of-kin identify them formally.
Anyone with information on the murders may contact Colonel Ben Bolsiek of the Provincial Organised Crime Unit on 082 466 8530 or call the Crime Stop number, 08600 10111.
Information can also be provided via MySAPS App. – Staff Reporter