OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Saturday 5.30pm.
GATECRASHERS who were turned away from a Christmas Eve party in the holiday resort of Margate, south of Durban, opened fire on guests with assault rifles and pistols, killing eight people and injuring two more.
They then took the family’s stereo system before fleeing, says regional police spokesman, Director Bala Naidoo. Those shot dead include the party’s host, Anton Ngubane, his wife Ba, his brother Nhlanhla and five of their friends.
President Nelson Mandela, on holiday in his native Qunu village in the Eastern Cape province, expressed sadness at the incident and called on people to cooperate with police who have begun a manhunt.
“I appeal to members of the public not to take the law into their own hands and resort to any revenge attacks,” Mandela said. The Christmas period, when city workers return to their home villages, has frequently seen an upsurge in violence in Kwa-Zulu Natal, where the bitter legacy of the years’ long civil war between ANC and Inkatha supporters remains. — AFP.