KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has urged police to act swiftly to arrest the criminals behind the murder of uMngeni Local Municipality Democratic Alliance Chief Whip, Nhlalayenza Ndlovu.
Ndlovu was gunned down in front of his children at his home in eMpophomeni Township on Tuesday night.
The KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government has condemned the murder.
The Premier said this was yet another incident of violence shining the spotlight on the killing of political leaders in the province.
“We simply will not allow our province to become a killing field, especially of politicians and traditional leaders. This is a direct attack on the centre that holds our communities together which should serve as the last defence of all the people of our province.
“Those elected should be allowed the space and time to govern following elections. Attacks on politicians are invariably an attack on the very institutions which hold our democracy together, and should never be countenanced,” Dube-Ncube said.
Ndlovu’s murder comes after Police Minister Bheki Cele released a report of the Inter-Ministerial Committee tasked to probe all political killings in KwaZulu-Natal in September, which reported major advances against this phenomenon.
Given the arrests reported by the police, the Premier said government is making progress in ensuring that the perpetrators of political and traditional leaders end up behind bars.
“As we send our condolences to the family of Councillor Ndlovu, we want to state that we have no doubt that the KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, and his team will ensure that no stone is left unturned to locate the killers.
“As we go into the festive season holidays, we also wish to sound a stern warning to all criminals that there will be no place to hide, as all organs of the State working together with all the law-abiding members of our communities, will continue to narrow the space for all forms of criminality in order to make our province a safer place to live in,” Dube-Ncube said.
Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Bongi Sithole-Moloi said it was disappointing that incidents of killing democratically-elected councillors continues to occur.
“As a department, we condemn violence in the strongest possible terms as we strive for stability and peace in all our councils, and it is always a matter of great concern when a ward councillor is killed in this manner, instilling fear in the public and fellow councillors.
“We call upon the public members or anyone who may have information that could lead to the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators to work with the police to seek justice for councillor Ndlovu.
“As the department, we extend our condolences to the Ndlovu family, who have lost a father, to his friends, colleagues, and the entire uMngeni community, who have lost their representative in the council,” Sithole-Moloi said.
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