The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) in the Eastern Cape welcomes the deployment of specialised SAPS personnel and resources to the investigation into the mass shooting of 18 people in the Ngobozana village in Lusikisiki at the weekend.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured the families of the deceased that a team of specialised detectives and forensic experts have been assigned to investigate the shooting that has left the province and the country at large reeling at its brutality and impunity. The assailants targeted two houses near each other and murdered twelve women and one man in the first house, and four others in the second house.

The Eastern Cape has been beset by numerous instances of killings, house robberies and extortion, in addition to high levels of crimes in many townships and communities.

COSATU Eastern Cape trusts that the specialised crime-fighting expertise that have been deployed to the province will not only focus on the mass shooting but will extend to probe the crime wave that has been bedevilling communities in the province.

The Federation appreciates the efforts of the provincial government in addressing the high levels of criminal activity and hopes that through working alongside the specialised detectives and forensic experts, those responsible for these heinous murders and other crimes will be brought to book.

The prevention of crime and corruption is one among the crucial issues that members of COSATU Affiliates will be calling for when they take to the streets on the National Day of Action on 7 October. Other issues include the high unemployment rate with 11.3 people needing jobs; the tide of retrenchments both in the public and private sector; the high cost of living including Eskom's proposed 36.15% electricity tariff hike; and the relentless attacks on collective bargaining, among others.