KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety & Liaison Mr Mxolisi Kaunda has urged feuding families in Stulwane near Bergville to end the violent conflict that has claimed scores of lives since 2014.
In October this year alone, four people were killed, causing members of the community to panic about the prospect of having a peaceful and safe festive season.
Kaunda recently convened an urgent meeting with the local leadership, including Inkosi Menzi Hlongwane of Amangwane Traditional Council and the warring families, to end the conflict.
Members of the affected families believe that stock theft is at the centre of the long-running feud which resurfaced in 2014.
Recently released crime statistics indicate that uThukela District is leading in cases of stock theft in the province.
Through government intervention, a peace agreement was signed last year, where all parties involved in the conflict committed themselves to bring peace and stability to the area.
Kaunda called for calm and assured the community that police visibility will be intensified in the area to ensure that perpetrators of violence are arrested. “Through our law enforcement operations in the area, we are going to recover all illegal firearms which have been used in the killings. Those who attack the police during these operations will face the full might of the law,” said Kaunda.
He also called upon police to speed up investigation and make arrests in all murder cases that have been opened.
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