Community members from Wedela have started a fundraising action for the families of some of the victims of the mass shooting at Dora’s Tavern in Wedela.

A total of 18 people were killed when unknown gunmen shot at patrons as well as people outside the tavern on September 26.

This is one of the biggest shootings ever in the country.

One of the victims was Yolukazi Simayile, whose sister, Norma, now has to look after her five children, aged between two and 14 years old. Simayile also has another son staying with relatives in the Eastern Cape.

“I will look after them, but I also have my own four kids to take care of. Me and my brother, Sanele (20), have also already buried our parents, grandparents and siblings, so there is no one else to help,” says Norma.

Norma was also at Dora’s Tavern when the shooting occurred. Although she was not planning on going out, Yolukazi came to her home to borrow some shoes and persuaded her to go with.

“The music was loud, but we started hearing shots. I ran and jumped into the men’s toilets.

My sister ran into the ladies’ toilets, where she was shot. She also died there. Since then, I can’t sleep. When I hear a car, I jump up,” says Norma.

All Yolukazi’s children are currently staying in two bedrooms of a dilapidated house without windows. To make matters worse, one of the children does not have a birth certificate.

“We literally need help with everything,” says Norma.

One of the other families that need help is that of the late Siphelele Njiva, who was 34 at the time of his death. He was shot in both legs while visiting the tavern and died in hospital on the day after the shooting. According to his niece, Thandeka Machitele, Njiva was doing piece jobs to help him and his mother, as well as other relatives in the area.

Machitele was visiting her uncle, Njiva, and his mother at the time of the shooting. Although their small house is not on the same street as Dora’s Tavern, it is so close that some of the killers ran into their yard and shone torches and cellphone lights through their windows in search of the people who they had targeted to kill.

“So many bullets were landing on our roof that it sounded like rain,” says Machitele.

Her aunt and other family members are now stuck without a breadwinner.

Anyone who thinks they can assist can contact Sithembile David Nqulo on 066 082 9408 or Molebogang Mohutsiwa on 076 942 9527.