Glebelands Hostel has been the centre of controversy since 2014. More than 90 murders have taken place there.
Several suspects― one of them a police officer― accused of murder and conspiring to kill Glebelands hostel dwellers, are expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Monday for bail applications.
READ MORE: Police officer among five arrested for hostel murders
A number of suspects were arrested at the end of last year in pre-dawn raids for murders that occurred at the infamous Glebelands Hostel in Umlazi, Durban. Among those arrested was a sergeant in the South African Police Services.
News24 previously reported that some of the murders at the hostel “were not the normal kind of murders”.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker told News24 that initial investigations revealed that many of the killings were orchestrated in an organised fashion.
He said the Provincial Organised Unit investigators, together with crime intelligence, had embarked “on many months of tedious investigation, hostel infiltration and information gathering in trying to get to those responsible for the atrocities at the hostel”.
Naicker listed a number of obstacles encountered by police during evidence gathering. There were: reluctant witnesses; missing witnesses; witnesses being killed; negative perceptions from different sectors in the communities; and information being discussed on various public platforms, which helped the suspects keep one step ahead of the police.
Glebelands Hostel has been the centre of controversy since 2014. More than 90 murders have taken place there.
READ MORE: Glebelands Hostel- The scene of many murders
The Moerane Commission on political killings has heard how Glebelands was a “reservoir of hitmen” and how police were actively involved in violence.
READ MORE: Moerane report may be released after all
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu established the commission in October 2016, chaired by advocate Marumo Moerane, to investigate the high number of political killings in the province since 2011. ― News24