‘Authorities must act,’ says ANC after recent attacks on party members
'A crime is a crime, whether it is committed in an ANC meeting against an ANC member, it is a criminal act,' says party spokesperson Pule Mabe.
ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe during a media briefing at Luthuli House in Johannesburg. Photo: Sandile Ndlovu
The African National Congress (ANC) says the recent attacks on its members and councillors is a concern to the governing party.
Speaking to eNCA on Sunday, ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe indicated that the authorities needed to speed up its investigations so those behind the crimes can be held accountable.
“It is a worry and [what the ANC] have always said is that law enforcement agencies need to act with the necessary speed. A crime is a crime, whether it is committed in an ANC meeting against an ANC member, it is a criminal act. We must act with the necessary speed.
“The killings in [KwaZulu-Natal], the harassment of a regional executive committee member out in Kangala, Mpumalanga, [and] acts of arson in Enoch Mgijima in the Eastern Cape… those things have got to be acted on,” he said.
Political attacks
Earlier this week, ANC ward councillor, Minenhle Mkhize was killed after he arrived home in Hammarsdale, KZN.
Mkhize had just arrived from Unit 6 where he had been playing soccer when the incident occurred.
Seven empty cartridges were found at the scene, according to South African Police Service (Saps) spokesperson in KZN, Colonel Thembeka Mbele.
Meanwhile, Mabe also noted an incident where ANC councillor, Nanziwe Rulashe was manhandled by armed gunmen this week.
The video footage shows Rulashe being dragged on the floor by armed men who were allegedly instructed by the head of security to kick out the councillor.
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Rulashe, who is also mayoral committee member at the Amathole District Municipality, was then shot at in her East London home in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Saps spokesperson in Eastern Cape, Tembinkosi Kinana, told EWN that an investigation into the shooting has been launched.
“According to our information, an unidentified suspect arrived and started shooting through the bedroom window of the complainant.
“She was not in the room at the time of the incident but only children who allegedly escaped unhurt as they were in other rooms. The circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated,” she said.
Recent killings
Several ANC councillors and ward candidates were killed last year ahead of the local government elections held in November.
On 8 July 2021, ANC member Godfrey Gouwe was killed in a hail of bullets, Rekord reported at the time.
According to the publication, Gouwe’s body was discovered by his 18-year-old son just a few houses away from the crime scene in Ga-Rankuwa.
In separate incident, two ANC members were shot – one died – while driving on Solomon Mahlangu Drive, Mamelodi. The police said the pair were travelling from a voting station in Nellmapius when the incident took place in August.
Three women – Ncamisile Shange, Beatrice Nzama and Philisiwe Jili – were also gunned down during a drive-by shooting in Inanda, KZN, in September.
The women were attending an ANC committee meeting to finalise the selection of candidates for the elections when they were killed outside a school in the area north of Durban.
In the same month, ANC councillor Tshepo Motaung was shot 20 times while on his way home in Mabopane, Tshwane.
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Motuang’s murder was previously reported to be politically-motivated and linked to the ANC’s councillor candidate-selection disputes.
Another ANC councillor, Siyabonga Mkhize, was shot dead in October during a door-to-door campaign in Cato Crest in Durban.
Mkhize, who was a candidate for ward 101, was killed while he was with another person, who also died.
Other political killings not related to the ANC include the murder of Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) ward councillor candidate, Thulani Shangase.
Shangase was killed in the KwaCaluza area outside Pietermaritzburg after returning from an EFF campaign meeting in October.
The most recently incident saw Amajuba District Council speaker, Reginald Ndima, shot dead outside his home in Newcastle, KZN on Saturday.
Ndima, an Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) member, succumbed to his gun wounds at hospital.
