A man was murdered in cold blood after he allegedly refused to assist someone with an illegal electricity connection at an informal settlement in Pietermartizburg, KwaZulu-Natal. The CPF in the area says they are concerned about a trend of senseless killings and province being highlighted because of the high number of murders committed.

According to reports, Christopher Nompulo was with his girlfriend at his home in Sacca informal settlement when he was approached by the unknown suspect.

It is alleged that the suspect wanted his help to establish an illegal electricity connection at his (the suspect’s) house, but Nompulo refused and the man left. He later returned and begged Nompulo, which he again refused. The man then allegedly drew a firearm, shot him three times, and fled.

KZN police spokesperson Sergeant Sifiso Gwala confirmed that a manhunt has been launched.

“We want to request the co-operation of community members in the area to come forward with information to assist police in apprehending those responsible for the murder. The community needs to come on board and play an active role in sharing information on known criminals in their communities,” says Gwala.

He adds that a murder case has been opened for investigation, but no one has been arrested yet.

uMgungundlovu district community policing forum chairperson Ndumiso Zuma says they are concerned about the ongoing attacks and killings.

“We are trying to establish a spiritual crime awareness in all police stations. This will form part of our effort in curbing crime, which seems to continue to escalate. We have noticed that people tend to turn a blind eye to crime.”

He adds that they suspect that it’s still not clear to the community where or how they can report criminal activities to.

“Most of the things that contribute to crime are social issues. This province is trending in terms of murders, and we don’t know what went wrong. We need to find the root cause and how deep it is,” he says.