Zweli Mkhize’s house raided by police investigating political killings
The minister’s nephew Siya Mkhize and two security guards were allegedly arrested at his KZN home in an operation that has been kept quiet so far.
The task team investigating political killings in KZN has raided Zweli Mkhize’s home, The Witness has reported.
The raid reportedly took place on September 28 but has been kept quiet.
An anonymous source has since contacted The Citizen with unconfirmed reports that the raid led to the arrest of Siya Mkhize, the minister’s nephew, as well as two security guards.
The case allegedly involves a security company the younger Mkhize owns and guns that have been used in murder cases, which were allegedly confiscated. The source said that Mkhize was granted bail on Monday.
The operation is believed to be part of an investigation into the role of private security companies in the scourge of political assassinations that have gripped the province.
A neighbour reported that the police came in a large convoy of roughly ten vehicles. The minister was, apparently, not at home at the time.
Mkhize, meanwhile, told the Witness that the police did indeed visit his home but that he does not consider it a “raid”.
“The police did not raid the house as such but approached security,” said his spokesperson, Musa Zondi.
“The police came to the residence and the information that minister Mkhize received is that they are investigating private security companies. They questioned the guy at the residence deployed by the private security company. The minister has directed all to cooperate with the police.
“The issue of killings in the province is serious and needs to be dealt with and he fully supports anything the police are doing to arrest the scourge.”
The Pietermaritzburg home of education MEC Mthandeni Dlungwane was also reportedly raided.
A spate of killings believed to be politically motivated led to the establishment of a commission in October 2016 by KwaZulu-Natal premier Willies Mchunu.
The commission investigated killings that took place in the province between 2011 and 2017 and has continued looking into the situation, which does not seem to be improving.
During a media briefing held last month, the commission in question, dubbed the Moerane commission, released the findings of their report which found that the tender system was the root cause for most of the political killings in the province.
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