Leaflets naming ‘killers’ flood Richmond
PAMPHLETS with the names of people allegedly behind the gunning down of political leaders in the Richmond municipality have been circulating in the KZN town.
The leaflets appeared after the murder of ward two councillor Sifiso Mkhize, who was shot 18 times by unidentified gunmen last week.
Mkhize, whose funeral was held in Mpenjathi yesterday, is the third political leader to be killed in the area in two months after the deaths of municipal manager Sibusiso Sithole and deputy mayor Thandazile Phoswa.
The writer of the pamphlets alleged that the people behind the killing spree were angry for being sidelined by the government for tenders while a few people continued to benefit.
Four of the people named previously served jail sentences for various political crimes.
“They (the former inmates) want tenders and jobs from the municipality because they say they fought (during the apartheid struggle),” read the pamphlet.
Members of the group were allegedly heard saying before the killing of Mkhize that ward 2 would be holding by-elections. They accused him of having “a big mouth and not liking them”.
The community is now living in fear because it is apparent that the named men are not scared to spill blood to get what they want.
“How did Cde (Comrade) Mlindelwa ‘Ndelo’ Sithole, Cde Thandizile Phoswa the deputy mayor, Cde Mthulisi Ngcobo and Cde Sibusiso Sithole die? I’m not even going to mention Cde Sifiso Mkhize because he already suspected that there were people who were following him around in a white golf GTI which was always parked next to the municipality offices for unknown reasons. He did say that he was expecting to die any time,” the pamphlets read.
None of the people mentioned in the pamphlets has been arrested in relation to the murders.
umgungundlovu police spokesman Sgt Mthokizisi Ngobese condemned the distribution of the pamphlets, saying it was negligent to publish people’s names accusing them of a crime because that could incite violence.
“If someone has information about the murders they must bring it to the police.
“We don’t encourage the publishing of people’s names,” he said.
Ngobese urged the community to remain calm and work with the police in fighting crime in the region, which he said was packed with unlicensed firearms.
Richmond municipal speaker Samora Ndlovu said the municipality’s leadership was concerned about the violence directed at politicians.
“We urge the police to work tirelessly to bring those involved to book. Richmond is not like other areas, it has a history of violence which requires the police to come up with different tactics to curb it whenever it rears its head,” he said.