The homeless community live in fear following the killings of five homeless men in Pretoria.
Five middle aged, homeless men were found dead in the Muckleneuk and Sunnyside areas in the past three weeks.
Mpho Madulukgoba said they were terrified to sleep at night.
“We are even scared to sleep because it seems like this person comes at night or in the early hours of the morning,” he said.
“Why would anyone do this? We do not bother anyone.”
READ MORE: UPDATE: Vigil for homeless ‘serial killer’ victims
The 27-year-old and a friend, Mpho Ngwenya, said they were deeply saddened by the killings as one of the men killed was a friend of theirs.
“He was our friend and now he has been killed,” said Ngwena
“Who knows maybe we are next.”
They said they were extra vigilant now and they made sure that they slept in groups.
“People don’t even trust us anymore as if we are the ones killing one another,” said Ngwenya.
“We just want to live in peace.”
READ MORE: UPDATE: NGOs devastated after three homeless men found killed in Muckleneuk
Another homeless man who asked not to be named said he saw the bodies of the two men who were found in Magnolia Park on consecutive days.
“On both occasions I thought the men were still sleeping until I saw the police,” he said.
“Then I knew something was going on.”
The 31-year-old man who begs near the park said he had since moved to another area to sleep.
“I used to sleep here until all of this started.”
“I have had to move away, but I come back during the day to work and I have a knife.”
READ MORE: NEWSFLASH: Another homeless man ‘murdered’ in Sunnyside
He said since the string of killings people were reluctant to help them.
“I have not even made enough for bread by midday.”
Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela said a high-level task team was investigating the “mysterious murders”.
The most recent body was found on Wednesdmay at the Mears Park bus station.
The first body was found in a veld near Mears Park train station, almost three weeks ago.
The second and third bodies were found in Magnolia Park on two consecutive days more than a week ago.
The fourth was found in Sunnyside on Tuesday.
Do you have more information about the story? Please send us an email to editorial@rekord.co.za or phone us on 083 625 4114.
For free breaking and community news, visit Rekord’s websites:
For more news and interesting articles, like Rekord on Facebook, follow us on Twitter or Instagram
