MAFETENG — Popular famo artist, Tumelo Shea, 33, and his wife, Mmakananelo, 30, were murdered in their home in Makeneng in Mafeteng last weekend.
The two were shot dead by unknown assailants at around 10pm last Saturday.
They died of their wounds shortly afterwards, according to the police.
The Mafeteng district police commander, Thabo Lebasa, confirmed the murders.
Lebasa said Mmakananelo died on the way to hospital while Tumelo died later at the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Maseru.
According to Lebasa, the couple’s shack in which they were sleeping with their three children aged 10, 7 and 4 respectively was attacked in a hail of bullets last Saturday.
“The deceased’s shack was shot at in a hail of bullets by unidentified killers. They both incurred grave injuries. Shea’s wife died on the way to hospital while (the husband) died the following morning at Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.
“Miraculously their three children survived the attack,” Lebasa said.
The police commander added that the couple had been living in Makeneng for two years, having moved from their native Taung in the Mafeteng district.
“They were relatively new as they had been living in Makeneng for about two years,” Lebasa said.
However, Lebasa said preliminary investigations by the police have not yet yielded anything concrete.
“At this point preliminary investigations have not revealed anything concrete yet. No arrests in connection with the murder have been made either,” Lebasa said.
Lebasa could not be drawn into revealing the number of bullets found at the scene.
“We are still to go to court. In that case, we cannot disclose the exact make of the guns used as well as some other tiny details lest we put ourselves in a compromising position. But what I can say is that pistols were used,” Lebasa said.
The couple’s death has sent shock waves in Mafeteng.
A cousin of the deceased, Retsélisitsoe Shea, said he suspected that Tumelo was killed in a revenge attack.
He said there was speculation that Tumelo was the one who revealed the whereabouts of Mosoketsi Maketsi’, a famo musician who was gunned last September.
Maketsi’, a prominent musician better known as Rantsó, was shot and killed as he alighted from a taxi on 23 September last year in Thabana-Morena in Mafeteng.
There are allegations that Rantsó was killed by a rival faction in the music industry.
Shea said there was speculation within the family that his brother was killed because he was linked to the death of Rantsó last September.
“I suspect he was killed by the late Rantsó’s camp. Rumour was rife that he had led to Rantsó’s killing by revealing his whereabouts to his killers.
“Tumelo and Rantsó worked together until he moved to a rival camp. They were not happy with the move,” Shea said.
He said his brother had confided in him last Thursday that he feared for his life after he had a confrontation with a local businessman in Mafeteng.
Shea said he had tried to have his music CDs and cassettes removed from the businessman’s shop in Mafeteng.
The businessman allegedly rebuffed Shea’s attempts to take off his music from the shelves.
“My cousin pulled me to one side when he got home from town on New Year’s Eve (Thursday 31 December).
“He told me that he had gone to (the businessman’s) music shop to have his music pulled from the shelves as their relations had turned sour,” Shea said.
Shea said on Saturday afternoon, on getting home from town, Tumelo again confided in him that he had been accosted by a group of men who asked if he knew one Tello and if he could recall what became of him.
Tello, a well-known activist involved in factional fights among famo musicians, was also shot and killed by unknown gunmen last August.
“Tumelo told me that he had been accosted by a group of men while in town. They asked him if he knew about Tello and what happened to him.
“Tello was a thug associated with famo factions who was also brutally shot and killed. He added that they told him to passop (be careful) if he did not want to end up like Tello,” Shea said.
Meanwhile, the deceased’s extended family is still gripped by fear with villagers saying they no longer feel safe after the gruesome killings.
‘Masemetsa Mosoeunyane, a neighbour to the late Shea’s, said she heard the couple cry out for help as the shooting was taking place.
“It must have been shortly after 10pm on Saturday. I heard a flurry of gunshots and ‘Makananelo shouting out to me for help,” she said.
“But I could not go out as I feared for my life. The shooting went on for what seemed like eternity but finally abated.
“The (gunmen) had probably left because afterwards all that remained was a deadly silence followed by ‘Makananelo’s desperate cries for help.”
“She had now left her house and was advancing towards mine when I finally came out. She collapsed on my veranda and begged me be to hold her which I did.
“It was then that I realised that she had a wound on the chest and was bleeding profusely,” Mosoeunyane said.
