When Inkatha Freedom Party member Siyanda Nguni was shot and killed during the build-up to the Local Government Elections in August 2016, it was labelled a ‘politically motivated murder’.
Mr Nguni was shot and killed while wearing an IFP T-shirt when he was accosted by four men at a tavern behind Connor Street; shortly thereafter he was shot and killed.
It was one of the murders that prompted KZN Premier Willies Mchunu to launch a commission of inquiry to investigate politically motivated murders in the province. But a police investigation has revealed that the murder was not politically motivated but fuelled by an argument.
Police spokesperson Captain Charmaine Struwig explains: “Thorough police investigation revealed that the accused, Sifiso Hamilton Mgikathi (27), and the deceased became embroiled in a fight over liquor, which resulted in the deceased being stabbed.”
Mgikathi was handed down a 15 year prison sentence in the Estcourt Regional Court on July 29. Five years of which have been suspended for five years. He was found unfit to possess a firearm. The case docket was investigated by Constable Itesh Sankar of the Estcourt Trio Crimes Task Team.
