During a recruitment drive in Dube hostel, assailants shoot MK member dead, injure two, prompting party to demand swift arrests.
The uMkhonto WeSizwe (MK) party in Gauteng has called for the immediate arrest of hostel dwellers who shot and killed one of its members and injured two others, while they were on a recruitment drive at the weekend.
MK Gauteng spokesperson Abel Tau and members of the party were in Dube hostel, Soweto, on Sunday on a recruitment drive when they were encountered hostility from an induna at the hostel, who was allegedly an Inkatha Freedom Party supporter.
“This induna apparently organised electricity to be cut off to ensure that MK members would not be able to connect their PA system and continue with their programme of action on the day.
MK party condemns deadly hostel shooting in Soweto
“When MK party members [brought] a portable generator to connect their PA system, two attackers, one male and one female, approached them.
“The male attacker shot at our members, injuring two of them at the scene, while the female attacker used pepper spray to disperse the crowd,” he said.
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Tau said that two of the injured were receiving treatment at Jabulani Hospital and a third victim succumbed to his injuries.
“What is of particular concern is that members of the police in Dube refused to open a case when our members tried to [do so] at the police station,” he said.
Tau said that he learnt of a third incident in which a member, an induna and resident at the hostel, who was later shot and wounded on arrival at his residence, from the failed bid to open a case with police.
Attempted murder case
Gauteng police spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi confirmed a case of attempted murder on Sunday.
“The complainant alleges that they were conducting a recruitment drive at Dube hostel when they saw two people arguing. As she approached them, she heard gunshots and saw one man falling down,” she said.
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Political analyst Rene Oosthuizen said she didn’t believe that this violence was random.
“These actions threaten to derail the upcoming elections by spreading fear and instability.”
Political science lecturer at North-West University Benjamin Rapanyane said that political intolerance was incompatible with South Africa’s democratic principles and could compromise the democracy’s stability, ushering in a new period of political violence.
