Residents, police and security firm win war against violent gang that terrorised the Wild Coast

Mdumbi Point. Photo: Facebook

10 Nov 2024

Recent arrests have brought hope that ‘paradise lost’ could become ‘paradise regained’ after a wave of violent crimes in this scenic part of the Eastern Cape made headlines and led to cancelled holidays.

After weeks of collaborative efforts by local residents, a security firm and the police, peace was restored to the Eastern Cape’s Wild Coast last week as tourism leaders confirmed that they believe the violent gang that has been terrorising the area is now behind bars.

“This is very good news,” said Russel Kruger, chairperson of the Wild Coast Holiday Association. He added that details would not be provided because the focus was now on completing the investigation and keeping the perpetrators behind bars, but he felt confident that the gang had been broken up. “These are not ordinary criminals. We are talking about very dangerous men.”

Kruger said the collaboration between the police, residents and a security firm that resulted in the men being brought to book had been admirable.

Eastern Cape police spokesperson Captain Welile Matyolo said an operation initiated by the Mdantsane tactical response team and other role players in Ngqeleni, Coffee Bay and Centane resulted in the arrest of a 30-year-old male suspect from nearby Ntshilini. He has been charged with possession of an unlicensed .38 revolver, ammunition and Mandrax.

Matyolo confirmed that the suspect was also a person of interest in connection with robbing tourists in the Mdumbi area. It is understood that there were more arrests.

Kruger said that before the police operation and arrests, the situation along the Wild Coast had been dire. Even regular visitors who own cottages along the Wild Coast were too scared to come.

“Now we have a good story to tell. We are very optimistic that the situation has been addressed. I am very encouraged that the Wild Coast will be back to normal.”

Read more: Alize van der Merwe and a second kidnapping victim dropped off at police station in Eastern Cape

Dave Martin, founder of the Bulungula Incubator at Xhora Mouth, an administrative area about 100km from Mthatha, said communities were doing their best to keep themselves and tourists safe. Martin and his wife, Réjane Woodroffe, were attacked in their home in Nqileni village in August.

“Keeping a balanced view is very tricky,” he said.

Wild Coast The Mthatha city centre. (Photo: Flickr)

He does believe, though, that the back of the gang that was responsible for the violence in Mdumbi has been broken, and he is hopeful that similar progress will soon be made in the Xhora Mouth area.

Martin said local residents had been patrolling at night and doing their best to work with the police. “They are also scared. They are much more vulnerable. They are doing all they can.”

He added that there had been cancellations at the Bulungula Lodge and only about half the number of visitors initially expected were planning to visit this festive season.

Ruled by fear

The Wild Coast, known for its incredible natural beauty, has recently been shrouded in fear because of crime.

In October, attorney Chris van Heerden wrote a hard-hitting letter to the police, the Eastern Cape director of public prosecutions, community safety MEC Xolile Nqatha and the Eastern Cape Parks and Tourism Agency, asking for urgent intervention in policing on the coast. He was appointed by cottage owners and the Mankosi community, who had become concerned that their cases were not being investigated properly.

Basket and bead sellers rely on tourism for an income. (Photo: Jocelyn Adamson)

A view of Hole in the Wall on the Wild Coast. (Photo: Toast Coetzer / Gallo Images)

“There has suddenly been an increase in armed and violent home invasions and motorists being ambushed by armed gangs who have not hesitated to shoot,” Van Heerden wrote. “With the holiday season approaching in December, our clients fear that the Wild Coast will be severely impacted if crime is not brought under control as a matter of urgency and the gangs that are operating with impunity are dealt with.”

He added that social media posts about the violent attacks on the Wild Coast had been viewed 1.3 million times on Facebook, “which will obviously have a serious negative impact on tourism in the area”.

Speaking from Mazeppa Bay, where he had brought a third tour group in recent weeks, guide Owen Richter said there had not been trouble in the past month. “Communities are trying their absolute best to keep tourists safe,” he said.

“I am getting a lot of phone calls from people who ask if the Wild Coast is safe. My answer to them is to check your car before you leave. Fill up in East London and then in Butterworth, and don’t stop next to the road for anything. But we warn people about Mthatha when they come here. We say try to avoid it or go around. Mthatha is a different place. If you can go around or come another way that will be best.”

Richter said he had two trips cancelled this year, but the people told him they would return in future.

Kei Mouth. (Photo: Jocelyn Adamson)

Lack of funding

As part of a growing wave of community action to restore peace to the Wild Coast, communities at Xhora Mouth marched to the local police station in September to implore officers to deal with the surge in violent crimes.

“The residents of Xhora Mouth live in fear. Criminals from outside our villages come here to commit crimes over and over again, and in all these cases no one is arrested. We don’t see any police coming here to protect us,” said nkosi (community headman) Ntsikelelo Mbangasini at the time.

Yusuf Cassim, a member of the provincial legislature and the DA’s spokesperson on community safety, said the Eastern Cape needed a tourism task force to restore confidence in the sector.

“Token deployments of national intervention units or additional police officers will not curb the severity of crime in our province. What is needed is a robust, specialised capacity dedicated to both prevention and prosecution.”

Cassim said the gross underfunding of the Eastern Cape Department of Community Safety must be addressed. With only R144.84-million – just 0.15% of the total budget – allocated to this department, the provincial government had shown a worrying lack of commitment to community safety.

“In stark contrast, the Western Cape’s allocation of R763.4-million demonstrates what a dedicated commitment to reducing crime should look like,” Cassim said.

Sonwabo Mampoza, a spokesperson for the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality in Mthatha, said the police remained on high alert. “Our law enforcement officers have arrested three men who deliberately gave tourists wrong directions last week,” he said.

Read more: Resilience and unity in the face of violence — standing strong in the Eastern Cape village of Nqileni

Mampoza added that the municipality had developed an operational plan for the festive season and tourist safety was its first priority.

“The purpose of the plan is to ensure safety during the festive season both on the road and at the beaches... to strengthen our security measures. We all know that there will be holidaymakers who will be driving through Mthatha.

“We will be working jointly with other law enforcement agencies such as the SAPS, provincial traffic, etc, to tighten security in our area. Safety operations like roadblocks, searching and checking the roadworthiness of vehicles and permits will be carried out at strategic points.”

Last weekend, provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Nomthetheleli Mene urged residents to work with the police to combat crime. She promised heightened police operations in the Eastern Cape. DM

The Wild Coast’s two years of terror

2022: A doctor from East London is shot in the arm and tied to a tree near the Mdumbi River bridge as his attacker escapes with his vehicle. Around the same time, shots are fired at tourists’ vehicles, but they manage to escape unharmed.

March 2023: An elderly couple are held hostage, beaten and shot, and their car is stolen from a cottage at Mthatha Mouth in Coffee Bay.

April 2023: A family is held up at gunpoint and their vehicle is stolen at the same venue.

2023: Two officials from the Department of Health are held hostage and shot at near the Mdumbi River Bridge. Their assailants are armed with R4 rifles and handguns.

March 2024: Australian tourists are stopped near Mngcibe, but they fight off their attackers with the help of residents.

March 2024: A man is held hostage and his car is stolen at the Mdumbi River Bridge.

March 2024: Families are shot at in their vehicles near the Mthatha River Bridge.

May 2024: The nkosi (headman) of the Mankosi administrative area is beaten up and robbed by men armed with R4 rifles and handguns.

Mdumbi A sign for Mdumbi Backpackers. (Photo: Gallo Images /GO! / Ruvan Boshoff)

June 2024: A manager at Mdumbi Lodge is robbed, shot and beaten by men armed with R4 rifles and handguns.

June 2024: Johann Stadler, the owner of Mdumbi Backpackers, and his family are brutally assaulted as a gang ransacks their house. Before they are informed of an arrest in the case, they receive a message that there would not be a prosecution.

August 2024: Dave Martin and Rejane Woodroffe from the Bulungula Incubator are attacked at Bulungula Lodge. Four men armed with 9mm pistols and two-way radios hold them up and rob them.

14 September 2024: One victim is shot and another assaulted during a house robbery at Mthatha Mouth in which tools and other items are stolen.

20 September 2024: Alize van der Merwe is kidnapped on her way to Umngazi Lodge near Port St Johns. She is later released unharmed.

21 September 2024: A family on holiday is violently attacked, robbed and shot at after returning from Mdumbi Beach when they stop their bakkie because of rocks in the road. According to their attorney, Chris van Heerden, they had to go to Barkley East to report the case because the police in Coffee Bay would not open a docket.

Mdumbi Point. (Photo: Facebook)

24 September: The Seiler family is attacked and robbed in Mdumbi when a heavily armed gang starts shooting outside their house before entering it.

4 October 2024: Shots are fired during an attempted hijacking near Coffee Bay, but the victim escapes unharmed. DM

This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.

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Ruled by fear

Lack of funding

The Wild Coast’s two years of terror