This bloody act still haunts the residents of this once-thriving city. Who are the Penguin Murderers? And what impulse drove them as they stabbed and strangled?

There are many theories, and no easy answers. It has been suggested that the killings were part of some satanic ritual. Or that they may have been a revenge attack by perlemoen smugglers. To date, a teenage girl has confessed to the killings and been found guilty. But many believe she was not alone and her accomplices still roam the streets of the city.

Once a thriving industrial centre, East London is now in serious decline. People who sustained themselves by manufacturing motor cars have been tossed to the tides of history. White privilege has gone forever and with it, a comfortably familiar social order.

The Penguin Murders reveals the anxiety and disorder seething beneath the surface of this decaying city. It is the story of jagged lives that now litter a once-idyllic landscape. Directed by Sara Blecher, it was filmed by Dennis Goddard and edited by Riaan Geldenhuys.

Produced by SABC Special Assignment