Expert witness links notorious hostel to spate of political hits
THE recent spate of killings plaguing KwaZulu-Natal’s volatile Umzimkhulu region – including the attempt last week on former ANCYL secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa’s life – can all be traced back to Umlazi’s notorious Glebelands Hostel‚ the Moerane Commission of Inquiry heard yesterday.
This bombshell was dropped by expert witness Vanessa Burger, of the Independent Community Activist for Human Rights and Social Justice advocacy group‚ speaking before the R15-million commission in Durban.
The commission is tasked with understanding the causes and possible solutions to the province’s ongoing political violence.
Under oath‚ Burger said she had it on good authority that large amounts of money were recently collected to pay a hitman to carry out killings in Umzimkhulu.
Evidence leader Bheki Manyathi asked Burger whether she regarded the attempted murder of Magaqa on Thursday as one of those hits‚ to which Burger said yes.
“The hitman was paid and he is still in Umzimkhulu. The three who were shot in Umzimkhulu [between April and last week] were killed by the same hitman‚” she said.
Burger said the weapon used was a state-issued R1 firearm.
Magaqa‚ now a councillor‚ and two other councillors, Nonsikelelo Mafa and Jabu Mzizi‚ were attacked by unidentified gunmen‚ landing them in hospital. They became the fourth‚ fifth and sixth victims of violence in the area in recent months.
Burger also attempted to draw attention to the fact that many of the hitmen infesting the Glebelands Hostel were guns for hire employed to carry out political and other hits.
She painted a grim picture of a settlement languishing under a dark spell of murders.
In all likelihood‚ she said, political and other murders on the South Coast and in parts of the Eastern Cape could be traced back to Glebelands hitmen.