2 Elderly Eastern Cape Sisters Were Shot and Killed in Their Sleep, South Africans Shaken

• The South African Police Service is investigating a case of murder after two elderly women were killed in the Eastern Cape
• The women, who were sisters aged 75 and 85 years old, were shot in their home outside of Alice while they were sleeping
• The province's acting police commissioner, Thandiswa Kupiso, condemned the act, and no suspects have been arrested

Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist in Johannesburg, South Africa, covered criminal activities, cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, taxi violence, police investigations, police shootouts and court cases at Daily Sun for over three years.

ALICE, EASTERN CAPE — Two elderly sisters in Alice, Eastern Cape, were brutally murdered in their sleep on 13 May 2025.

Elderly Eastern Cape siblings murdered

According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), the 75 and 85-year-old sisters who lived in Upper Ncerha were sleeping in their home when suspects entered their home forcefully and shot them, killing them. They were found with gunshot wounds to their upper bodies.

The suspects fled, and nobody has been arrested. The province's acting police commissioner, Major General Thandiswa Kupiso, condemned the violence against the two women.

"Violence against women, children and elderly people is unacceptable, and the SAPS is committed to protecting the vulnerable in society against the increase of Gender-Based Violence," she said.

Violent crimes in the Eastern Cape

• The police investigated a massacre in which 17 people, including 15 women, were gunned down mercilessly in Luskisiki in the Ngobozana area on 27 September 2024
• Six people lost their lives in another massacre that happened in the Qumbu area on 6 October, more than a week after the massacre which claimed 17 people in Ngobazana
• The police launched an inquest investigation after six people, including five children and an adult, were found dead in Bizana on 25 January 2025
• A shop owner in Tsomo was brutally murdered when seven suspects burned his shop with him inside and then raped his assistant on 17 March
• A man from Hofmeyer was arrested and appeared in court in April after he brutally killed his mother in cold blood

What did South Africans say?

Netizens commenting on SABC News' Facebook post shared their views on why the two women were murdered.

Luxolo Angelo Luux Solomon said:

"There is that thing called insurance payout. Lately, people are too greedy and can do anything to claim."

Dimpho Mphonyanba KaNdlovu said:

"I believe it could be a message to their kids. Someone is surely sending a warning."

Ashwin St claire-Marks said:

"This person must have a very large amount of life insurance taken out on them."

Ida Jasson said:

"So sad. Joh, people are so cruel and merciless. My sincere condolences to the family. May they rest in eternal peace."

Ken McKay-Tsepe Corday said:

"I just hope it's not another Rosemary scandal."

Eastern Cape man dies after gunfight

In a related article, Briefly News reported that a man from the Eastern Cape was killed in a gunfight with another man who allegedly hijacked his girlfriend. The incident happened on 4 December 2024.

The man was travelling with his lover when she saw the alleged hijacker and informed her boyfriend that he had hijacked her. The alleged hijacker recognised the woman and fired a shot in the air.

The boyfriend started shooting at him, and a gunfight ensued. He killed the suspected hijacker, and a few moments later, the hijacker's friends killed the boyfriend.

Source: Briefly News