Brazen killing hours after Glebelands task team’s visit

A FEW hours after the portfolio committee on policing visited umlazi SAPS to discuss Glebelands hostel on Thursday, another resident was killed.

Masindi Zulu, 30, was gunned down less than 2m from her front door. Her neighbours and police said the motive was unknown. She was the 92nd to be killed at the hostel since March 2014.

The committee was angered by the incident, which they viewed as a mockery of their oversight visit.

“Someone is demonstrating, even to us as public representatives sworn under oath of Parliament, that I am the boss,” said committee member Philip Mhlongo on Friday.

The committee spent the past week in Kwazulu-natal engaging with the police, Hawks and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) on crime, political violence and the ongoing killings in Glebelands.

Commander of the organised crime unit Brigadier Bongani Maqashalala told the committee that the task team was making progress in curbing the politically related violence.

The committee members urged the police to dig deeper during their investigation to bring the instigators to book.

This was echoed by Hawks acting head Lieutenant-general Yolisa Matakata who said, “We need to get to those who are giving the orders to kill, otherwise we will keep arresting the hitmen and that is not going to solve the problem. Work is being done in that regard.”

Ipid provincial head Parbatie Maharaj said it was investigating five matters related to the violence where complainants alleged torture and assault at the hands of the police. She said the difficulty was getting some of the complainants to give statements as they feared for their lives.

“In order to prosecute, the co-operation of a complainant is important. We have offered to pick them up from where they live and bring them to our office so they can safely give their statements.”

On the allegations that the police were colluding with the perpetrators of violence in the hostel as per witness accounts before the Moerane Commission last month, Maharaj said it was putting together a portfolio of evidence that would be handed over to the commission.

“We are very serious about police criminality and misconduct,” she said.

Chairperson of the committee Francois Beukman said the situation at Glebelands Hostel should be deemed critical by the local and provincial government and that it was not just a police matter.

“We had a commitment today from the (acting) provincial commissioner (Major General Bheki Langa) that an additional five detectives would be made available to the team that is investigating Glebelands and we think that is very important,” he said, adding that there would be another deployment from national office.

Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-general Lesetja Mothiba was expected to appear before the committee on Friday, but failed to arrive, a move that angered the members who said he must appear before Parliament on August 16 to explain his reasons for not being present.