Another ANC cadre murdered

Close councillors killed in four months

Three key ANC figures from the same region in KwaZuluNatal, who were gunned down in a space of four months, had all been friends.

This emerged in the wake of Sithembiso Mhlongo’s murder‚ at the hands of gunmen who were posing as policemen yesterday morning in the Moses Mabhida region‚ which is the hometown of ANC presidential candidate Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

His name is added to the growing list of ANC councillors gunned down in the runup to the ANC national elective conference next month.

On Monday‚ Mhlongo’s close comrade Lungisani Mnguni was assassinated while delivering food parcels to a school in Camperdown.

His death caused consternation in party ranks as camps which support the presidential aspirations of Dlamini-Zuma and deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa rushed to claim him as “their delegate”.

It was in this same ward that councillor Everlast Mkhize was felled by gunmen after leaving a branch meeting.

As the dust of the most recent murder settled‚ Moses Mabhida Region secretary Mzi Zuma said the three slain officials had risen through the ranks together.

He said they were disheartened that the region had become a hotspot for such brutal killings.

He said Mhlongo’s affiliation – to either Dlamini-Zuma or Ramaphosa – was not informing their thinking.

“Whether this man was a leader of the ANC or a man off the street‚ our concern would be equal‚” he said.