The gunfire that killed five young men in a Willowvale informal settlement this week is not an isolated incident but the latest chapter in a five-year bloodbath that has turned the tiny rural coastal town into one of the Eastern Cape’s deadliest places.
What started as isolated shootings has grown into a crisis of gun violence that has left community members terrified, traditional leaders living in fear and families burying their loved ones almost weekly.
In the past 10 months alone, at least 10 people, including three traditional leaders and members of their families, have been gunned down.
But the trail of blood stretches back to 2021, with Daily Dispatch archives and police records showing more than 30 people have been killed in gun-related incidents in and around Willowvale.
This week’s latest horror has once again put Willowvale on the national map for the wrong reasons.
On Tuesday night, five young men aged between 17 and 22 were shot dead and a 30-year-old man was seriously wounded when three unknown gunmen kicked open the door of a two-room flat at the Willowvale Squatter Camp in Extension 1.
Eastern Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Nobuntu Gantana said the suspects kicked open the door at about 9.50pm and opened fire with a 9mm pistol before fleeing.
The 30-year-old man survived the attack.
When the Dispatch visited the area on Thursday, community members were afraid to speak openly, but some said they believed the latest shooting was linked to a battle for drug territory between suspected druglords in Nxanxashe and Mboya.
They said three men had been shot dead in the same fashion in the area last year, with no arrests made.
“Willowvale has become the Eastern Cape killing fields. We are fearful for our lives,” one resident said.
Provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Vuyisile Ncata visited the scene on Wednesday and chaired an activation meeting as police launched a hunt for the killers.
On Thursday, deputy provincial commissioner for crime detection Major-General Zithulele Dladla and a provincial team also visited Willowvale in an effort to speed up arrests.
The violence was already escalating in 2023, when four people were killed in two gun battles after a business robbery in Mahasana and Dumalisile villages. Two more victims were later found shot dead at the Ngadla turn-off.
The worst mass shooting came on May 19 2024, when seven people, including an eight-year-old boy, were shot dead in Nxanxashe village.
Six people were shot inside a Mazda 3 while another victim was found dead about a kilometre away inside a Toyota Fortuner. Police also found an abandoned VW Polo with blood stains.
Three men — Inga Sogidashe, 35, Vumile Lola, 39, and Siphelele Ntshiyane, 35 — are on trial for the shooting in the Mthatha High Court.
On December 4 2024, Nkosi Mshumayeli Jongidinga Mente and his three brothers — Gcinumzi, Sindile and Avumile — were gunned down in Mente village.
The traditional leader and his siblings were travelling towards the Willowvale CBD when four gunmen, allegedly dropped off by two Toyota Avanzas, ambushed them.
Three bodies were found inside the vehicle and one outside near a riverbank. Two men have since been arrested.
Five days later, residents marched to the police station.
The violence became closer to home in 2025.
On September 4, Nkosi Mzonke Gudlulwandle Mazamisa, 52, and his 70-year-old mother, Nkosikazi Nojongile Eleonor Mazamisa, were shot dead at their homestead at Komkhulu Great Place.
A 50-year-old woman was wounded.
AmaXhosa King Ahlangene Vulikhaya Sigcawu called for illegal firearms to be removed from criminals and for intensified policing, saying arrests, successful prosecutions and harsh sentences could send a strong message.
On September 27, 62-year-old Nofinish Nkinqa was murdered at Gotyibeni village while bathing her nine-year-old grandchild.
An armed man entered the home and fired three shots in front of three children.
Less than 18 hours later, police shot dead the suspect after he allegedly fired at a tactical team.
Traditional leaders in Ntlabane said at least four people had died in gun violence in the area within a month.
The killings have also revived memories of earlier murders, including the 2015 deaths of sisters Siyamthanda and Cordelia Koli, aged 12 and 16.
Their bodies were found in a forest near their Lower Nqadu home after they had attended a traditional ceremony.
Accused Thando Mgqobozi was eventually convicted in October 2023 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Daily Dispatch