The community is still in shock after three partly decomposed bodies, with multiple stab wounds, were found on Wednesday 1 February 2017, morning in a veld next to a shopping centre in Bloemside, Bloemfontein.
The atmosphere in Bloemspruit is still tense, with most people choosing to stay inside their yards. 80 year old Stone Dangobe who lives in the area opposite the mall, across the veld were the bodies were found, says he feels terrible that such an awful thing could happen in their community. He says when they was commotion, he went to go find out what was happening and found other community members standing in shock. He says he has been put at ease by the fact that police will be investigating the matter.

His son, George Dangobe says he decided to pay him a visit after hearing about the gruesome discovery. He wanted to make sure that his father was still safe.

Rachel Topkin, who lives with her daughter, Candice and granddaughter says they live in constant fear of their lives. She says she feels that not enough is being done to ensure their safety as a community. “The young kids are unemployed and they do nothing all day, it would be better if the police could patrol our streets more often.” She says she always ensures that she is safely locked in her house, day and night.

Jeremy May says that as a community they feel sad about what happened to these young men. He says they wanted to try and identify the bodies but couldn’t as the police would not allow it. He says he feels safe in his community, although this is not the first time such an incident has happened.
VIDEO: Bloemside community reacts to triple murders
Police have still not being able to identify the victims and the investigation continues. – Seithati Semenokane
seithati@centralmediagroup.co.za