Plea to community to give police information
SACP warns of massacre
AT AN SACP media briefing yesterday, provincial secretary Themba Mthembu, chairman James Nxumalo and Nomvuzo Tshabalala denied the killings were a result of tensions between them and the ANC in Inchanga.
“People being shot at randomly in quick succession, with a car roaming around, our experience tells us there is a hit squad operating to unleash a reign of terror,” said Mthembu.
However, he also said Inchanga was not on the list of branches the ANC leadership visited to solve issues around the candidate nomination process and this made the SACP, and the people of Inchanga, “strongly” believe the ANC leadership was reluctant to solve the problems in the area.
KZN ANC spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli said the killings were not political and accused the SACP of “losing the plot”.
“The SACP is being populist and not being responsible by conducting thorough research on what the actual problem in Inchanga is. Instead they are taking to public platforms when they have failed to engage us on what they think is the problem in Inchanga,” said Ntuli.
He said if they were being simplistic “like the SACP”, they would say the killings of Ndumiso and Thobani Shozi were at the hands of the SACP, but they know that this would be too simplistic a view to take and instead an investigation was needed to come up with properly researched answers.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokeswoman Thembeka Mbhele said members of the Durban public order police, tactical response team and Inchanga SAPS had been dispatched to the area to monitor the situation.
“We are appealing to the community to join hands and fight against the killing of people in the area by providing valuable information to the police that will lead to arrest of those involved in the
THE SACP believes that a “hit squad” is fuelling violence in Inchanga, outside Durban. The party has warned that the violence that erupted last week could result in a fullblown massacre if not brought to an end soon.
At a media briefing, the SACP accused the ANC of being reluctant to help end the conflict.
“There is no doubt that a hit squad is now in operation in Inchanga, Eskhaleni and KwaMakhutha,” party provincial secretary Themba Mthembu said.
“What is developing is similar to what was experienced in Richmond.”
Mthembu’s comments followed the SACP meeting its branch members from Inchanga after seven ANC and SACP members were murdered in recent months.
He said the way the killings were carried out had all the elements of the work of a hit squad from the 1980s and 90s when hitmen in a car drove around shooting randomly at people.
“Most of us sitting here have live experience of that.”
He said the killings were intended to spark a cycle of revenge killings.
“It is (done by) people who are well versed with the art of black-on-black violence that took place in the 80s and 90s. This is what they try to recycle in Inchanga.”
SACP provincial chairman James Nxumalo said: “If the situation is not arrested, we could see what happened in Richmond and Eskhaleni where there were massacres.
“I say that because a community member was shot next to a tavern. Our suspicion is maybe they were going to the tavern to shoot anyone who they came across,” he said.
Despite the renewal of the violence, Mthembu said the SACP would not call on its members to take up arms, saying it was a party of peace.
“The duty of the people of Inchanga must be to unite that community. It must be to fight for peace in that community, and expose the criminal elements which are hiding under a political flag.”
He called on community members to assist the police with investigations to identify the “scoundrels” behind the killings.
“The problem is structures are infiltrated by criminals and some of them are taken by criminals,” Mthembu said.
In downplaying the tensions between the ANC and the SACP in the area, Nxumalo said there were literally no problems between the two parties.
There had been peace after the municipal elections, he said.
“It (violence) is orchestrated somewhere,” Nxumalo said.
But the ANC came in for drubbing from its alliance partner at the media briefing.
“There appears to be reluctance on the part of the provincial leadership of the ANC to put the conflict in Inchanga to rest,” Mthembu said.
He charged that the hopes of SACP members had been dashed when the ANC sent its national leaders to the province to resolve disputes over the nomination of councillors, but they had not visited Inchanga.
“They thought they were to be prioritised,” he said.
ANC provincial spokesman Mdumiseni Ntuli said the SACP’s understanding of the visit to KZN by national ANC leaders to attend to disputes on the nomination of councillors was incorrect.
“There would have been no basis for the ANC to go because there was no complaint about the candidate,” Ntuli said.
He said it was wrong to suggest that the ANC was reluctant to end the conflict there.
“It was the ANC that called for judicial commission on political killings. The ANC accepted defeat and the independent was allowed to govern,” Ntuli said.
He said it appeared the SACP was blaming the ANC “for everything”.
“It implants wrong perception that anything wrong should be blamed on the ANC,” he said.
The SACP was embracing populist stances, he said.