Councillor’s death believed to be politically motivated

THE recent killing of a ward councillor candidate and his colleague in Cato Crest is believed to be politically motivated.

Siyabonga Mkhize, ANC’S ward 101 candidate and his colleague Mzukisi Nyanga were gunned down on Friday afternoon while conducting a door-todoor campaign.

Philisiwe Mkhize, who was with the two deceased before the incident took place, told the Sunday Tribune they had started in the morning with their campaign and concluded the day with a community meeting.

She said approximately 10 minutes after the meeting ended, gunshots were heard in the direction of where Mkhize and Nyanga had parked.

“We rushed to where the gunshots were directed to; that is where we saw that our candidate had been shot,” she said.

She said the ANC candidate would be remembered as a person who loved his work and helping the community.

Nyanga’s son Skhumbuzo said his father’s death had shocked the family.

“A few days before his death, he had asked us what we will need for Christmas. My father was a family man who loved his children,” he said.

Family spokesperson for the Mkhize family Sthembile Mkhize said they wanted justice to be served.

“We are still in shock because we knew Mkhize was not a combative person. The incident has taken us by surprise,” she said.

Political analyst Benedict Xolani Dube from the Xubera Institute for Research and Development said the province had had a checkered past filled with political killings.

“It is a culture for them (politicians); they are the ones orchestrating the killings of their competitors behind the scenes so when it comes round to protecting them, how do you protect gangsters from gangsters?

“I rejoice when they kill each other because it means they are not killing us, the general public. I couldn’t care less if they die,” he said.

Dube said once the dust settled and elections were over, he feared that constituents would not be safe to raise concerns.

“If you have an issue of corruption or service delivery and begin to combat the issues, should you now threaten their livelihoods, then they will point the gun on the noise-makers. Every citizen has a target on their backs. It is just a matter of giving the person a reason to pull the trigger.”

Provincial police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said Cato Manor police were investigating two counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder.

Naicker said when police arrived at the scene, they found a car riddled with bullet holes. He added that the motive behind the hit remained unknown.