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The eighth suspect arrested for the murders of 18 people in Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape last September, was remanded in custody on Tuesday after his first court appearance.
Twenty-year-old Songezo Vuma was arrested in Qonce, formerly King Wiliams Town, on Sunday, after boarding a bus for Cape Town.
The National Prosecuting Authority said Vuma abandoned his bid for bail, and the matter has been transferred to the Lusikisiki Regional Court.
Spokesperson, Luxolo Tyali, says he will join seven other co-accused on 17 February when they make their next court appearance.
They are Siphosoxolo Myekethe (45), Aphiwe "AP" Ndende (25), Lwando Antony Abi (33) and Bonga Hintsa (31), Zenande Paya (38) and Mawethu Nomdlembu (36), who have all since abandoned bail.
They are all facing 18 charges of murder and possession of unlicensed firearms and ammunition.
Paya and Nomdlwembu, were arrested in Flagstaff, on 17 October 2024, in possession of the four rifles and ammunition that were allegedly moved to other locations, after the killings on 28 September 2024, in Ngobozana village.
Two of the men, Ndende and Hintsa, were arrested in Port Shepstone, while Abi was apprehended in East London, on Wednesday 16 October 2024.
Myekethe was arrested on 07 October 2024, at his home in Mthimde Location, Mamfengwini Area in the district of Lusikisiki.
Their arrest comes after the shooting on 28 September last year at two neighbouring homesteads in Ngobozana Village near Lusikisiki, where eighteen people were killed, and five others were injured.
