Durban - An ANC councillor in the eThekwini region has been arrested for allegedly killing his predecessor.
The identity of the councillor is known to the Daily News, but it will not be revealed until he has appeared in court.
The councillor was one of the “chief mourners” at the funeral of the person he is accused of killing. He was also part of the ANC delegation that visited the family to mourn his killing.
On Monday morning, after days of secrecy, the ANC in the region admitted the councillor had been arrested.
Over the weekend, the Daily News was tipped off the councillor had not been seen in public for days because the SAPS task team on political killings had taken him in for questioning. The investigators were reportedly convinced he was behind his predecessor’s murder.
The ANC in the region said although everyone was innocent until proven guilty, it shared the pain of the victims of political killings.
Mlondo Mkhize, spokesperson of the ANC in the eThekwini region, said the arrest was in connection with the murders of Siyabonga Mkhize and Mzukisi Nyanga in Cato Crest last year.
“While we understand and accept the principle of natural justice that a person is presumed innocent until proven otherwise, we however call for justice for our fallen comrades,” Mkhize said.
“We stand with the families of our fallen comrades and we want to see justice.”
Mkhize said a citizen’s freedom was threatened each time a member of the community was murdered or robbed. They therefore implored law enforcement agencies to be firm and act decisively to continue to root out rogue elements that were behind the murders.
He said members of the community must unwaveringly work with the police to help isolate the criminals.
“We will be watching this case closely up until its final stages,” Mkhize said.
“Importantly, we wish to assure the community affected by the absence of the councillor, who is currently in custody, that the ANC will deploy a PR councillor to service the community.”
Mkhize said that when the people of eThekwini went to the polls, they voted for services such as water, electricity, housing, road infrastructure, jobs and access to economic opportunities. Therefore, the municipality would never let them down.
“Finally, we further call upon all ANC volunteers to continue to mobilise communities to stand up against any form of crime.
“We must intensify the fight against crime, in all its manifestations – from the unacceptable level of murders, assaults, robberies, high-jacking to domestic violence. The culture of impunity should not be tolerated in this region,” Mkhize said.
Residents who fall under that ward have said the area had been without water for two days and they have had many power outages that lasted up to 48 hours.
There were calls to ramp up the councillor’s security after he survived a murder attempt on his life.
The councillor was at a meeting over the second weekend of March to elect a new ANC branch leadership and ward committee members.
As he was leaving the meeting, gunmen followed him and started shooting. The councillor reportedly sped off and was not hit by a bullet.
The councillor replaced Siyabonga Mkhize, who was gunned down a few days before last year’s November 1 local government elections. Mkhize was an ANC candidate but won the ward, which forced a by-election.
Mkhize and Nyanga had just finished campaigning for the elections when they were attacked at Cato Crest.
They were with Siphiwe Khanyile and Sicelo Notshesi, who survived the shooting.
Daily News