KILLINGS ROCK ANC AHEAD OF CONFERENCE
AHEAD of the much-anticipated ANC Eastern Cape elective conference at the weekend, the party was left reeling after a Nelson Mandela Bay councillor and his assistant were killed in a hail of bullets in KwaNobuhle, Kariega.
Ward 43 councillor Andile Andries was coming out of his house with his secretary Lubabalo Keso when they came under fire from suspects in a Quantum minibus on Monday, according to police.
The attackers fled the scene and are yet to be arrested.
Speaking to the Cape Times yesterday, Nelson Mandela Bay executive mayor Eugene Johnson said this was the second death of a councillor in the municipality since the new council was elected in November 2021.
“I received the unfortunate news of the passing away of councillor Andile Andres and his assistant Lubabalo Keso, with a great sense of shock. It is indeed shocking as it comes on the back of a similar incident that happened in Gqeberha. I wish to express our collective sincere condolences on behalf of the Nelson Mandela Bay Council and the people of the Metro,” said Johnson.
ANC regional spokesperson Lukhanyo Mzinzi said the news had hit the party hard.
“We are quite appalled by what has happened and we think that this is coming at a bad time for our movement. We are appalled by the issue of guns and people taking other people’s lives in our province.
“We are feeling the pain of our brother and we will be supporting these families throughout and make sure that they find proper support structures so that we can come to terms with this matter. We want to call upon law enforcement to tighten their hand against this criminal act,” he said.
Families of the deceased said they were still coming to terms with the news yesterday and would release a statement in due course.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Tembinkosi Kinana said a manhunt had been launched.
“According to the report, the 45-year-old councillor was coming out of his house together with the 41 year-old male secretary at the time of the incident. It is alleged that as they approached their vehicle, a Quantum minibus drove towards them and began firing several shots, killing them at the scene. The vehicle sped off after the incident. The number of the suspects in the drive-by shooting is not known at this stage. The circumstances surrounding the incident are currently under investigation. Murder cases have been registered and no arrests made at this stage,“said Kinana.
Political analyst Ongama Mtimka said a number of issues were a cause for concern when it came to how the office of councillor was perceived in political and economic circles.
“The bottom line is that the political economy of community life in South Africa has increasingly become dangerous as those that are perceived to be in power become targeted by those who disagree with them or by those who seek to displace them.
“But in the specific instances of these two killings we don’t know yet which area of the councillor’s many roles this killing could arise. There has been talk of something having to do with taxi violence and the interplay between business and politics at a ward level or even processes leading up to the regional conference,” he said.
ANC Youth League regional chairperson, Siviwe Ngaba said: “The incident is said to have taken place outside councillor Andile Andries’ home, which makes it clear that it was a premeditated act.
“We are resolute in applying pressure on the police to not rest until justice is served. These types of acts and criminality have absolutely no space in our democracy and must be rooted out with immediate effect. We call on anyone who has information to assist the police in the investigation by going to their nearest police station,“Ngaba said.